The Stoi^y Of 




And Its People 



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STATUE OF LOGAN, GRANT PARK, CHICAGO 



THE STORY OF 

ILLINOIS 

AND ITS PEG PLE 



BY 



WILLIAM LEWIS NIDA, Ph. B. 




CHTCAGO 
O. P. BARNES. PUBLISHER 






Copyright, 1910 
By O. p. Barnes 

Published November, 1910 



€ci.a:^75;g5 



PREFACE 

HISTORY is the most human, and therefore 
the most absorbing, of all studies. There 
seems to be no practical limit to the interest 
that may be secured in the class room, when the 
great events are presented to the pupils as the actual 
deeds of real people. In capable hands the pages 
often become, as it were, a stage on which living 
characters reenact the dramas of former o^enerations. 

Take the children, in imagination, through that 
picturesque region and along the beautiful streams 
that Black Hawk loved, and he ceases to be merely 
a troublesome Indian, and becomes to them there- 
after the hero of a pathetic racial tragedy. 

Pioneer days have gone forever from Illinois. 
Yet that ever-present longing in the human race to 
go to the woods, to build the cabin, and to battle 
with the wilderness, will spring up as a flame in the 
minds of our boys and girls of today, when told of 
the heroic deeds of their forefathers. Nor will the 
fact be overlooked, that out of these meager frontier 
fabrics were woven some of the most sterling char- 
acters of our national life. 

Let us, then, carry out the luniher of unim- 
portant details and the dry bones of facts and dates, 
and bring in the live flesh and blood of interest, 
INCIDENT and NARRATIVE, and we shall find that 
the time dev oted to the study of the history of our 
own State has indeed been a profitable season. 

w. L. N. 
November, 1910. 



DIE WHEN I MAY, I WANT IT SAID 
OF ME BY THOSE WHO KNEW ME 
BEST, THAT I ALWAYS PLUCKED A 
THISTLE AND PLANTED A FLOWER 
WHERE I THOUGHT A FLOWER 
WOULD GROW. 

ABRAHAM LIXCOLX 



^---^^^^^T-o 



MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS 

MAPS 

French Explorers in the Mississippi Valley. ... 62 

The American Bottom 70 

Clark's Route to Kaskaskia 79 

States Proposed by Jefferson 107 

The Northwest Territory 109 

Map OF THE Disputed Territory iio 

The Yankees in Illinois 144 

Map of Proposed Improvements, 1837 148 

Free and Slave Counties in 1824 162 

Territory Opened to Slavery by the Kansas- 
Nebraska Bill , 186 

Chicago in Ashes 232 

Railroad and County Map of Illinois 240 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

Statue of Logan Frontispiece 

Home Life of the Indian 12 

An Indian Maiden's Letter 16 

A Buffalo Hunt 19 

Drifting on the Mississippi 28 

Father Hennepin at Niagara 38 

The Building of the Griffon 41 

La Salle on Lake Erie 48 

Louis the Great Reigns 65 

Starved Rock ^)6 

Securing the Honors of War 89 



ILLUSTRATIONS — Continued 

Clark's March to Vincennes 91 

Flatboats on the Ohio 98 

Building a Home in the Wilderness 100 

In the Olden Times loi 

Immigrants on the National Road 104 

The First Capitol Building, Kaskaskia 113 

Old Fort Dearborn 117 

Castle Rock 132 

Walk-in-the-Water 141 

The State Capitol at Springfield 152 

The Lovejoy Monument, Alton 176 

Lincoln Replying to Douglas 191 

Stephen A. Douglas 204 

John A. Logan 212 

Ulysses S. Grant 214 

Statue of Lincoln 224 

The River Proved No Obstacle 231 

Chicago Sky-Scrapers 236 

Michigan Boulevard, Chicago 238 

A Familiar Scene on the Mississippi 244 



TITLES OF CHAPTERS 



I The Indians of Illinois 9 

II Marquette and Joliet 23 

III Robert Cavelier de La Salle 37 

IV La Salle Visits the Illinois Indians. ... 47 
V La Salle on the Gulf 60 

VI Kaskaskia UNDER France and England. . 70 

VII Colonel Clark at Kaskaskia 78 

VIII Clark Captures Vincennes 88 

IX Early Days in Illinois 95 

X Boundaries and Territorial Days ro6 

XI Fort Dearborn and Early Chicago 116 

XII The Black Hawk War 129 

XIII A Tide of Immigration 134 

XIV Yankees in Northern Illinois 142 

XV The Introduction of Slaves 154 

XVI The Decline of Slavery 164 

XVII LovEjOY and the Abolitionists 170 

XVIII The Underground Railroad 180 

XIX The Great Debates 185 

XX Nomination and Election of Lincoln. . . 194 
XXI Illinois in the War 

Stephen A. Douglas 203 

Richard Yates 207 

John A. Logan 211 

Ulysses S. Grant 214 

Abraham Lincoln 219 

XXII Later Times in Chicago 228 

XXIII Our Historic Outlook. . 240 



THE STOEY OF ILLINOIS 

CHAPTER I. 
THE INDIANS OF ILLINOIS 

Name and Origin of the Indian. When Columbus first 
touched the shores of the New World he found here a 
native race of red men whom he called Indians, because 
he supposed he had discovered the East Indies. The 
Indian had not advanced far enough in the arts of civili- 
zation to keep a written record of his history. Where he 
originally came from and how long he had lived here be- 
fore the coming of the white man nobody knows. Most 
of the tribes declared they were natives and that they 
came up out of the earth. One thing, however, is certain. 
The red race was spread, for long ages, over all North 
and South America. 

The Mound Builders. There is reason to believe that 
in former ages a race more advanced than the Indians oc- 
cupied the Mississippi valley. From the large number of 
mounds they left, they have been called the Mound Build- 
ers. Within these mounds stone and copper weapons and 
utensils are discovered which show that this race was 
superior to the savages found here by the Europeans. 
AVhence they came or whither they went, no one can tell. 
The closer we study the relics dug from these mounds, 
the more probable it seems that the Mound Builders were 
merely the more civilized ancestors of the Indians. 



10 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

The red men had forgotten much that was known to 
their mound-building forefathers. But they knew how 
to scratch the soil with a sharp stick, a bone or a stone 
hoe, and thus raise corn and a few vegetables. So they 
were not entirely dependent upon hunting and fishing for 
their living. They had dogs of a low breed which they 
used in the chase, but horses, cows, goats, sheep, and pigs 
were unknown to them. Without the help of such ani- 
mals it is very hard to rise from barbarism into civilized 
life. 

The Algonquian Family. When the white men first 
visited the Mississippi valley they found "the country 
of the Illinois" inhabited by eight different tribes: 
the Illinois, Miamis, Kickapoos, Mascoutins, Pottawato- 
mies. Sacs and Foxes, Winnebagoes and Shawnees. These 
tribes were all members of the Algonquian family. 

The splendid location of Illinois, with its fine climate, 
fertile soil, and abundance of all kinds of game, was the 
cause of many a bloody war for its possession. Its 
famous hunting grounds were known even to the distant 
Iroquois, who made frequent incursions to seize upon 
them and drive out the resident tribes. 

The Indians of the Illinois country differed little from 
the other members of the Algonquian family except that, 
because of the abundance of larger game, they knew 
little of trapping and fishing. Neither was agriculture 
carried on so extensively as elsewhere, for the same 
reason. 

The Work of the Squaw. The Indian family divided 
the work of life among its members. The lodge or wig- 
wam, with all its arrangements, was subject to the rule 
of the squaw. She assigned to each a place to eat, sleep, 
and to store his belongings. Her husband never inter- 



THE INDIANS OF ILLINOIS 11 

fered with the affairs of the wigwam. If he did not 
like the way things were going he said nothing but made 
for the woods. It was the work of the squaw to take 
down the lodge and bind the necessaries on the backs 
of dogs, or to carry them herself to the next camp. Later 
ponies were introduced, which served to lighten her bur- 
dens. The warrior was always left free on the march 
that he might be ready to meet a lurking enemy or to 
pursue game. 

The squaw was strong and vigorous and fully equal 
to her labors. Much of the time she spent in idleness. 
She had not, like the farmer's Avife of today, cows to 
milk, butter to make, or poultry to care for. No dish- 
washing, knitting nor fancy work fell to her lot. She 
needed not to dress the children and prepare them for 
school. There was no wardrobe to care for, no books to 
read, no chairs to dust. The wigwam was not crowded 
with mahogany furniture. They sat and slept on brush 
or buffalo robes. Sweeping, too, was a simple matter. 
The broom was of cedar branches, the floor the bare 
earth, and if the squaw failed to sweep clean and often, 
the lord of the forest made no complaint. 

There was the fire-pit in the center of the wigwam 
where cooking was done. The meat and fowl provided 
by the red man were thrown on the fire, and eaten half- 
raw. Certain foods, such as succotash, were cooked by 
throwing hot stones into the containing vessel of un- 
glazed pottery or wood which could not be put over the 
fire. Sometimes during the hunting season they dug a 
hole in the ground, shaped like a bowl, into which they 
fitted a green buffalo skin, hairy side down, and filled 
It with water. Heated stones were dropped into this 
to cook the buffalo meat. The family had one meal a 



12 



THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 



day together. At other times each ate when hungry, 
the fingers answering for knives and forks. 

There was no wash-day. "When a skin had been 
dressed and a garment made of it, by using a bone 
needle with a sinew of deer for thread, it was worn till 
it was in tatters. The squaw^ collected wood for fuel, 
using a stone hammer to break it into proper lengths, 
after which it was tied into bundles and carried to the 
lodge. She planted the patches of corn, beans, melons 
and pumpkins, and cultivated them with a sharp stick 
or a hoe made of the shoulder blade of the buffalo or elk. 




HOME LIFE OF THE INDIAN 



The Work of the Brave. It may seem that there was 
no work left for the red man to do, but this is not true. 



THE INDIANS OF ILLINOIS 13 

lie has not been given justice in the matter of doing his 
share of the work. The making of implements and arms 
was a long and laborious task. The most skillful Indian 
could not make an arrow short of a hard day's work. 
In an exciting chase he often used and lost as many 
arrows as would keep him busy for months to replace. 
Bows were made from the wood of the Osage orange, 
for w^hich long journej^s were made. Each warrior had 
several in different stages of completion. Much time 
was required for the various processes and treatments 
necessary to make a good bow. The strings for them 
were twisted from finely shredded sinew. 

The savage had no end of chipped stone blades, with 
varying sizes for the deer, bear and buffalo. Their 
spears were tipped with antler or bone. Chipping tools 
from stone and arrow heads from flint was no child's 
play. Then there was the grooved ax with a handle of 
hickory or ash sapling that would bend double without 
breaking. 

The bringing down of animals for food was not mere 
pastime. Before the introduction of ponies and firearms 
from Europe, great exertion and patience, as well as 
skill, were required to approach and kill a buffalo or 
deer. ''With his head covered by a cap of grass or 
weeds the Indian will lie for hours, noiseless as a snake, 
watching the game : now perfectly motionless, now 
crawling a few feet : no constraint of position, no fiercest 
heat of the sun, seeming to affect him in the least. He 
will lie for a whole day at a water hole waiting for the 
game to come and drink, in such a position that the wind 
will not reveal him." 

Besides making arms and providing food, the red 
man's duty was to guard his hunting grounds, to keep 



14 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

out his enemies, and to protect the women and children 
in war. Fighting was the business of the braves, and 
they were on the war-path much of the time. While the 
work of the warrior and squaw was divided fairly be- 
fore the white man came, the introduction of ponies and 
muskets lightened the work of the male Indian, while 
the squaw was not relieved so much. Because he did not 
quickly take upon himself some of his squaw's work, we 
have censured him unjustly. 

The Training of Children. The papoose was tied to 
the cradle-board for the first two years of its life. The 
father took no care of the child until he was big enough 
to learn the use of the bow and arrow and to throw the 
tomahawk. These cradle-boards were light and well 
made. They were longer than the child and somewhat 
wider. A hoop of strong hickory wood, wrapped to pro- 
tect the head, was bent over the face of the papoose, and 
the ends made fast to the boards. Holes were made in 
the edges of the board through which straps of rawhide 
were passed to hold the bed and child firmly in place. 
At the end of the board a strap was passed through a 
hole and the ends tied. When the squaw was busy she 
hung the cradle-board and child to the limb of a tree or 
stood it against a tree or stump. Perhaps this is better 
than putting a child in one of our cradles, for it keeps the 
little one's back straight. Some think this is why the 
Indian men are more erect than white men. 

The Indian boy ''had to learn to swim like a fish and 
dive like a beaver, to climb trees like a squirrel and to 
run like a deer. He had to learn how to set traps for 
wild animals, and how to hunt and kill them. He was 
taught to howl like a wolf, to bleat like a fawn, to quack 
like a duck, and to gobble like a turkey. By imitating 



THE INDIANS OF ILLINOIS 15 

these wild creatures he could better get near them in 
order to kill them." 

How to Become a Brave. AVhen he grew up he ob- 
tained honor and social position not by riches, for there 
was no wealth except a few ornaments. To be counted 
as a brave he must have taken a scalp or two, or at least 
have plundered and stolen from the enemy. The Indian 
never robbed members of his own tribe, but to steal from 
the enemy was counted a praiseworthy deed. 

Indian Customs. When one brave had been more 
fortunate than others in the chase, or in the use of the 
arrow or spear, the spoil was set apart for a feast. All 
the adults were invited. When the time came for the 
feast each one, according to custom, took a wooden dish 
and possibly a wooden spoon, and proceeded to the host's 
lodge. The food w^as served with great care, each guest 
receiving a portion of the best. Cheerful conversation, 
anecdote and personal adventure, were introduced by the 
men, the women not being allowed to take part. After 
the feast, the squaws retired to their lodges, leaving the 
warriors to smoke. Formal councils, where important 
questions like peace or war were considered, were always 
opened by smoking the pipe. 

The Red Man's Arithmetic. The Indian kept count of 
the number of scalps taken or the number of days on a 
journey by cutting notches in a bow or spear. There is 
no proof that they counted time by weeks, but they meas- 
ured the month by the moon, though they may not have 
known enough of numbers to tell how many days made a 
*'moon." They measured years by the coming of the 
leaves in the spring. When these Indians made a pur- 
chase, they inquired, not how many dollars, but how 
many raccoon skins thev owed. 



16 



THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 



Indian Writing. The Indians wrote by dra^Ying pict- 
ures. On the post or tablet at the head of an Indian 
grave was drawn the figure of the animal or totem show- 
iug the clan to Avhich the deceased belonged. Streaks 
of red paint Avere added to denote his war expeditions, 
v)r the number of scalps he had taken from the enemy. 

Here is an actual letter written by an Indian maiden 
to her lover, inviting him to visit her at her lodge. 



(^ 



t \% M C51 




AN INDIAN MAIDEN'S LETTER 



EXPLANATION 

a the writer of the letter, a girl of the Bear Totem, shown by that 
animal b; e and / are companions of a, the crosses signifying that 
the three girls are Christians; c and g the wigwams occupied by the 
girls near a large lake ], a trail leading from g to // which is a well- 
traveled road. The letter was written to a brave of the Mud Puppy 
Totem, as indicated in d. i the trail leading to her lover's lodge, h 
a lake near Indian camp. In examining c the writer's hand is seen 
protruding from an opening to denote beckoning and to indicate which 
lodge to visit. 

(Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1888-1889, page 363.) 



THE INDIANS OF ILLINOIS 17 

Had the iDdian girl written her letter in English, this 
is about the way it would have looked; 



My 


iear 


Brave, 










Of 


the Mud 


Puppy Totem, 






I 


and 


t'tio girl 


companions are 


living in ivigivams 


that 


are 


pitched near a large lake. 


fVe 


are Christians 


and 


^■ce 


belong to 


the Bear Totem. 


Not 


far from our 


camp, south of the 


main trail, is another 


large lake. I 


ivish 


you 


li'ould ca 


11 some evening 


at my 


lodge, rcchich 


you 


lull 


recognize 


by my hand ivaving 


you a salute. 








Your devoted I 


ndian 


Girl, 








Of 


the Bear Totem. 



A Buffalo Hunt. Every fall a great hunt was made 
for the purpose of killing and curing a supply of meat 
for the winter's use. Runners were sent ahead to seek 
the most suitable place for the camp. It must be near a 
good supply of water as well as timber for tent poles and 
drjdng scaffolds. Level stretches of open prairie were 
necessary for the stretching and drying of hides. Above 
all, the camp had to be near the center of a region 
abounding in game. 

Having pitched camp, and ''all things being ready, 
the best hunters were sent out before dawn. The herd is 
selected for slaughter whose position is such that the 
'surround' will least disturb the others. A narrow valley 
Avith lateral ravines is favorable. If the hprd is unfavor- 
ably situated the hunter waits for it to go to the water, 
or, by discreet appearance at intervals, drives it to the 
best spot. During this time the whole active male por- 



18 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

tion of the band is congregated out of sight of the buf- 
faloes, silent and trembling with excitement." 

"The herd being in the proper place, the leaders tell 
off the men and send them under temporary captains to 
designated positions. Carefully concealed, these parties 
pour down the valley to the leeward, and spread gradu- 
ally on each flank of the wind until the herd is sur- 
rounded, except on the windward side. Seeing that every 
man is in his place and all ready, the head hunter rapidly 
swings in a party to close the gap, gives the signal, and 
with a yell that would almost wake the dead, the whole 
line dashes in and closes on the game. The buffaloes 
make desperate rushes, until utterly bewildered, they 
almost stand still and await their fate. In a few mo- 
ments the slaughter is complete." 

When bows and arrows were used, each warrior know- 
ing his own, had no difficulty in positively identifying 
the buffaloes killed by him. These were his property, ex- 
cept that he was assessed a certain portion. If arrows 
of different braves were found in the same dead buffalo, 
it fell to those whose arrow was found nearest the heart. 

*'The slaughter completed, the warriors return to 
camp, while the women skin, cut up, and carry to camp 
almost every portion of the dead animals. As soon as 
the w^omen's work is done, other 'surrounds' are made 
until enough meat and skins are obtained. The work of 
the women is most laborious during the fall hunt. If the 
buffaloes are moving, the success of the hunt may depend 
upon the rapidity with which she performs her work on 
a batch of dead buffaloes. The men do not wish to kill, 
in any one day, more than the squaws can skin and cut 
up on that same day." 



THE INDIANS OP ILLINOIS 



19 



Preparing^ the Meat and Curing the Hides. ''The 
meat is thuroughly dried on the pole scaffolds until it is 
as hard as a rock. It is then pounded into meal by means 
of stone mauls, and packed in cases made of rawhide. 
Melted tallow is poured over the whole, which is kept 
warm until the mass is thoroughly saturated. "When the 
meat, now called pemmican, is cold, the rawhide cases 
are closed and tied up. The contents so prepared, will 
keep in good condition for several years." 




A BUFFALO HUNT 



''The skins, as soon they are emptied of their freight 
of meat, are spread, flesh-side upward, on a level piece 
of ground. Small slits are cut in the edges of each and 



20 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

it is stretched and fastened down by wooden pegs driven 
through the slits." 

The thickest hides were selected for shields and cases. 
The hair was removed by soaking the skins in a mixture 
of wood-ashes and water. The skin was then cut into 
the required shape and was almost as hard as iron. For 
making buffalo robes, the skins, being too thick, were 
reduced one-half by chipping with a tool like a car- 
penter's adz. With this the squaw chipped at the hard 
skin, cutting off a thin shaving at each blow. It required 
great skill to make them thin and smooth and not to cut 
through. These skins were then made soft by being 
smeared with fat and buffalo brains, rubbed in with a 
smooth stone. 

For making lodges or wigwams, the skins were treated 
in much the same manner as for buffalo robes. In a simi- 
lar way, deer skins were beautifully dressed for use as 
clothing. 

We here see the Indian woman in the role of butcher, 
meat-packer, cook, carrier, hide-dresser, tent-maker, 
clothier, shoemaker and house-builder. 

A Tribe on the War-Path. The Indians were some- 
what like the Arabs in their migrations. Several families 
usually traveled together. Like wealthy city people 
today, they had their summer and winter residences. 
Upon journeys they took all their possessions, except that 
at times they hid certain articles in holes in the ground, 
against their return. Their wives, children, dogs, ponies, 
and all other property, they took with them. 

In the early evening they were accustomed to encamp, 
pitching their wigwams with the same care as if for the 
winter. On the march the small children were often tied 



THE INDIANS OF ILLINOIS 21 

to pack saddles so they could not fall off. The still 
younger ones were tied on cradle-boards and, while travel- 
ing, the boards were suspended by the side of the horse. 
The women usually walked. 

The Indian did not object to dirt in his food. On his 
journey, he often carried his meat by running a strap 
through each piece, which was cut about six inches 
square. He then tied the strap to the saddle with the 
meat dangling by the horse's side, exposed to flies and 
dirt. 

His Superstitions and His Religion. The Indian be- 
lieved in ghosts and thought there was somehow a connec- 
tion between spirits and fire. He believed in dreams, 
too, because of which he had many doubts and fears. 
The hunter usually carried a small medicine bag hidden 
under his clothing. It contained some relic as a tooth, 
a bone, or a claw of some animal, which he thought would 
protect him from danger and evil of every kind. 

He believed also in a Great Spirit, wiiich he called 
the ''Master of Life," to whom he made sacrifices. Black 
Hawk, when his nation was in dire distress in 1832, sac- 
rificed a dog every night, because he thought the Great 
Spirit was unfriendly to him. The dog was killed and 
burned as it hung from a tree, with its nose pointed in 
the direction they were marching. In this manner he 
sought to win favor and protection from the god of the 
Indian. 

The red man believed, too, that all his evils, such as 
pain, disease, and death, came from bad spirits. To these 
he also sacrificed when he thought them unfriendly. The 
medicine-man was supposed to know how to control all 
spirits. By dancing about a patient and shaking hideous 
rattles, he strove to drive out the bad spirit. 



22 THE STOEY OF ILLINOIS 

He believed in a future life somewhere, with happy 
hunting-grounds for the good Indian. He often had his 
guns, knives, and dogs buried with him, sometimes even 
his horse, to use in that glorious hunt in the next world. 

He thought that wicked people would go to a cold, 
dreary land where briars and flint rock would tear the 
flesh from their bones, and where there would be plenty 
of game, but it would always be just beyond their reach. 

The Indians were careful about the proper burial of 
their dead. They had a common graveyard. When a 
member of the tribe died while away from home, on the 
war-path or on a hunting trip, they hewed a trough out 
of a log in which they placed the corpse and suspended 
it from the top of a tree, safe from wolves, until they re- 
turned home. During the war of 1812 when the Indians 
received severe punishment for aiding the British, their 
coffins were frequently seen in tree-tops on the frontier. 

The White Man and the Indian. When the white man 
came bringing ponies, cloth, firearms and whiskey to 
exchange for furs, the Indian began to change rapidly in 
many ways. He copied the vices of the whites, but he 
was not able to give up his wild life for one of settled 
agriculture. He was, therefore, gradually pushed back 
from the fertile valleys of Illinois, until in 1832, when 
Black Hawk and his tribe were the last to be driven out 
of the state. 



CHAPTER II 
MARQUETTE AND JOLIET 

The French Get a Foothold. The French had de- 
clined to help Columbus in his endeavor to find a west- 
ern route to the Indies. But, not sooner had the Great 
Navigator discovered the new world than the French 
hastened to lay hold of a portion of the prize. French 
sailors soon discovered the St. Lawrence, and upon the 
rock of Quebec they laid the foundation of a great em- 
pire in America. 

The Objects of the Frenchmen. Their aims were to 
get hold of more territory for the king, to discover gold 
and silver mines, and to build up the fur trade with the 
natives. Each expedition was accompanied by a few 
holy men called Jesuit priests, whose sole ambition was to 
teach Christianity to the heathen and to spread the Cath- 
olic religion among the natives of the earth. No hard- 
ship was too severe, no danger too hazardous for them 
to undertake. The greater the sufferings of these loyal 
missionaries, the more they gloried in them. 

France was a Catholic nation. She was glad to aid 
and protect the Jesuits, who would in turn spread French 
influence among the Indians, and, by friendly relations 
with them, help to build uj) a rich fur trade. 



24 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

Jesuits and Explorers Hand-in-Hand. Missions were 
soon established throughout the region of the St. Law- 
rence and Great Lakes. Wherever the Indians could be 
found in sufficient numbers, hither came the fur traders 
to barter for peltries, and the faithful Jesuit priests to 
instil into the savage heart something of the Christian 
ideal of love and peace. The French explorer and the 
priest pushed out, hand-in-hand, to conquer the wilder- 
ness. 

Jacques Marquette. Among these devoted priests 
was young Jacques Marquette, who had put aside a life 
of luxury and ease in France, in order that he might 
tame the savages in the American wilderness. Some 
Jesuits had to give up their Avork among the Indians on 
account of the hardships of a life in the forest ; others, 
because they could not learn the Indian tongues. Father 
Marquette was a frail man, but with plenty of endur- 
ance. He worked so diligently that he learned, in a few 
years, to speak six different Indian dialects. While try- 
ing to teach the red men of Lake Superior, he was visited 
by some Illinois warriors, from whom he learned the diffi- 
cult language of that nation. 

Marquette Hears of the ''Father of Waters." They 
told him of a mighty river toward the setting sun which 
they called the Mississippi, or "Father of Waters." But 
they could not tell into what sea this great river emptied, 
and Marquette was anxious to learn whether it flowed 
into the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, or the Pacific. He 
wished also to start a mission among the Illinois tribes, 
and won the promise of his superior to be permitted to 
do this. But it became necessary for him to return to 
Mackinac. Here he found Louis Joliet who ha'd been 



MARQUETTE AND JOLIET 25 

sent by Frontonac, Governor of Canada, to explore the 
Mississippi. 

The Explorer Joliet. Louis Joliet was just the kind 
of a man to send on this dangerous journey of thousands 
of miles among hostile red men. He could make shelter- 
huts, weapons, sleds, and birch bark canoes; he was a 
good hunter, fisher, and a fine cook; he could endure the 
rough life of the forests and camp; he could talk in sev- 
eral Indian dialects, and he was brave and tactful in 
dealing with the savages. 

A priest was always chosen to accompany exploring 
parties, and the choice happily fell on Father Marquette. 
They spent the winter months in making maps and col- 
lecting information about the wild country they were 
about to explore. They questioned all visitors to Macki- 
nac, Indians, trappers and fur traders. 

Our Heroes Set Out. As soon as the ice broke up in 
the spring, they gathered a stock of corn and smoked 
meat, and set out from St. Ignace in two bark canoes with 
five companions, (May 17, 1673.) Hundreds of Hurons, 
Ottawas, and other Indians gathered on the shore to see 
our heroes depart. Marquette embraced his brother 
Jesuits and blessed all the people, red and w^hite, while 
Joliet shook hands with everybody, and with shouts of 
good luck they bent to their paddles, waving a last adieu. 
Their route lay to the westward along the north shore of 
Lake Michigan. At night they landed, drew their canoes 
up on the shore and lighted a camp fire on the edge of the 
forest. The streams abounded with fish and the forest 
with game. After a few days, they entered Green Bay 
and paddled up the Menominee River, where they met the 
Wild-Rice Indians. When they told of their plans, these 



26 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

Indians tried to discourage them, saying that the banks 
of the Mississippi were inhabited by fierce tribes who 
tomahawked every stranger that came that way; that 
in a certain part of the river there lived a demon whose 
roar could be heard afar off, and that this demon would 
swallow them. Besides, there were other monsters who 
would devour them and their canoes together. 

On the Fox River. Marquette gave no heed to these 
alarms, but having taught them a prayer, he bade them 
farewell and proceeded up Green Bay to the mouth of 
Fox River, where they found great numbers of wild geese, 
ducks, and other fowl. There were marshes of wild rice 
which furnished the Indian as well as the fowls with food.* 
Canoeing up the Fox River was not all pleasure, for there 
were many rapids where the canoes had to be unloaded 
and carried over the steep portage paths. They found 
many Indians here, for it is always good fishing just 
below rapids. Wild fowl, bear and wild cat furnished 
an abundance of meat, and the rice swamps afforded 
grain without much labor. 

Soon the explorers entered Lake Winnebago, a most 
charming body of water. They passed on across this lake 
and up the river through a fine prairie country, and soon 
arrived at the palisaded village of the Mascoutins, or 
''Fire Nation," where Marquette was delighted to see 
a cross erected by a former missionary. The cross was 
decorated with dressed deer skins and bows and arrows, 



* Wild rice was gathered by shaking off the heads into a canoe. 
These were then dried over a slow fire, put into bags made of skin 
which were placed in holes in the ground and tramped upon until the 
grain was separated from the chaff. The grain was then pounded 
into flour between stones. When boiled and seasoned with fat it was 
considered a great delicacy. 



MARQUETTE AND JOLIET 27 

which the Indians had hiint,^ up to the great Manitou of 
the French. 

The Fire Nation Furnishes Guides. Being kindly re- 
ceived, they called together the chiefs and the elders and 
told them their mission and asked for guides to show 
them the way to the Wisconsin River. The chiefs gladly 
furnished two guides. Presents were exchanged, the 
Indians giving the explorers a mat of woven reeds to use 
as a bed. The entire population came dow^n to the shore 
to see them off. They pushed on up the river and soon 
reached the portage between the two rivers, where they 
had to carry their canoes and supplies a mile and a half 
across the prairies to the banks of the AVisconsin. 

On the Wisconsin. On this stream they embarked, not 
knowing where it w^ould carry them, whether to Virginia, 
the Gulf of Mexico, or the Gulf of California. ''They 
glided calmly down this tranquil stream. At night the 
l)ivouac, the canoes inverted on the bank, the flickering 
fire, the meal of bison flesh or venison, the evening pipes 
and slumber beneath the stars ; and when in the morning 
they embarked again, the mist hung on the river like a 
bridal veil, then melted before the sun." 

Drifting upon the Mississippi. On June 17th, after a 
voyage of seven days, they reached the mouth of the 
Wisconsin, and with great joy paddled out on the Miss- 
issippi. SouthAvard they journeyed on the slow and gen- 
tle current, between Avooded hills and amid picturesque 
scenery and beautiful islands. "We saw, "says Marquette 
in his journal, "only deer and cattle, bustards (geese), 
and swans without wings, because they drop their plum- 
age in this country." They were on the lookout for the 
"horrible monsters" described by the Indians. "Prom 



28 



THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 



time to time we came upon monstrous fish, one of which 
struck our canoe with such violence that I thought it 
was a great tree, about to break the canoe to pieces." At 
length buffalo appeared in great numbers, grazing on the 
prairies. They saw at times four or five hundred in one 
herd. Marquette describes the fierce and stupid looks of 
the old bulls as they stared through the tangled manes 
which nearly blinded them. 




DRIFTING ON THE MISSISSIPPI 



There had been no trace of human beings for a long 
distance, but they were very cautious. They landed in 
the evening, cooked their meal, put out the fire and pad- 
dled along some distance before they stopped for the 
night. They anchored out in the stream to prevent 
surprise, leaving a sentinel on guard. 



MARQUETTE AND JOLIET. 29 

Foot-prints of Red Men. At length they discovered 
foot-priuts iu the mud on the bank, and a well-trodden 
path which they resolved to follow. They left their com- 
l)anions to guard the canoes, while Joliet and Marquette 
started across the prairie. They soon came in sight of 
an Indian village, and without being discovered, advanced 
till they could hear the Indian voices among the wig- 
wams. Then they stood out in clear view and shouted. 
There was a great stir in the village. "The inmates 
swarmed out of their huts, and four of the chief men 
presently came forward to meet the strangers, advancing 
very deliberately and holding up toward the sun two 
calumets or peace pipes, decorated with feathers. They 
stopped abruptly before the two Frenchmen, and stood 
gazing at them without speaking a word." 

The Peace Pipe Offered. Marquette was much re- 
lieved on seeing that they wore French cloth, whence he 
judged that they must be friends and allies. He broke 
the silence and asked them in their own language, ''who 
they were; whereupon they answered that they were 
Illinois, and offered the peace pipe ; which having been 
duly smoked, they all went together to the village." 
Here the chief received them in a strange manner, and in 
his way, tried to honor them. ''He stood stark naked in 
the door of his wigwam, holding up both hands, as if 
to shield his eyes, 'frenchmen, how bright the sun shines 
when you come to visit us! All our village awaits you; 
and you shall enter our wigwams in peace.' So saying 
he led them into his own, which was crowded to suffoca- 
tion with savages, staring at their guests in silence." 

The Great Chief Visited. ''Having smoked with 
chiefs and old men, they were invited to visit the great 
chief of all the Illinois, at one of the villages they had 



30 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

seen in the distance; and thither they proceeded, fol- 
lowed by a throng of warriors, squaws and children. On 
arriving, they were forced to smoke again, and listen to a 
speech of welcome from the great chief, who delivered 
it standing betw^een two old men, naked like himself." 
His lodge was crowded with the chief men of the tribe. 
Marquette addressed them, saying that he was a mes- 
senger sent by the God who had made them and whom 
they ought to obey. He told them about the powder and 
glory of Count Frontenac, and asked about the Mississippi 
and the tribes he was about to visit along its banks. 
''The chief replied in a speech of compliment; assuring 
his guests that their presence added flavor to his tobacco, 
made the river more calm, the sky more serene, and the 
earth more beautiful." He gave them a young slave and 
a peace pipe, and begged them at the same time to aban- 
don their purpose of going farther down the Mississippi. 

A Delicious Feast. "A feast of four courses followed. 
First, a wooden bowl full of porridge of Indian meal 
boiled with grease was set before the guests; and the 
master of ceremonies fed them in turn, like infants, with 
a large spoon. Then appeared a platter of fish, and the 
same 'server' carefully removed the bones with his fin- 
gers, and blowing on the morsels to cool them, placed them 
in the mouths of the two Frenchmen. A large dog, killed 
and cooked for the occasion, was placed before them"; 
but, since they did not seem to relish this food, it was re- 
moved, and a dish of fat buffalo meat served as a last 
course. The crowd then dispersed, and buffalo robes 
were sjjread on the ground. Marquette and Joliet spent 
the night here. *'In the morning, the chief with some 
six hundred of his tribesmen, escorted them to their 



MARQUETTE AND JOLIET. 31 

canoes, and bade them, after their stolid fashion, a friend- 
ly farewell." 

The Voyagers See the Indian Gods. They paddled 
and drifted slowly on down the river, past the mouth of 
the Illinois. Soon they came upon a sight which filled 
them with fear. ''Upon the flat face of a high rock were 
painted in red, black, and green, two monsters, each as 
large as a calf, with horns like a deer, red eyes, and a 
beard like a tiger's, and a frightful expression of counte-= 
nance. The face is something like that of a man, the 
body covered with scales; and the tail so long that it 
passed entirely around the bod}-, over the head and be- 
tween the legs, ending like that of a fish," writes Mar- 
quette. These represented the Indian Gods, or Manitous. 

Pass the Missouri and the Ohio. In a few days they 
passed the mouth of a great muddy river from the un- 
known West, called by the Indians, Missouri. Its mad 
rush into the Mississippi almost upset their canoes. On 
they went by the lonely forest where now stands the 
great city of St. Louis. Soon they saw on the east bank, 
the mouth of a splendid river which the Iroquois had 
named the Ohio, the Indian word for ''Beautiful River." 
As they floated on towards the south, the heat became so 
intense that they had to crouch in the shade of sails put 
up as awnings. The banks of the IMississippi being 
swampy, were breeding places for mosquitoes without 
number, and these gave our heroes no rest. They passed 
some friendly Indians who delighted them with the infor- 
mation that they would reach the mouth of the Mississ- 
ippi in ten days. But this w^as far from true, for it was 
still a thousand miles distant. 

Arrival at the Arkansas. Again they set forth, float- 
ing and paddling by turns, through miles and miles of 



32 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

trackless wilderness, with no trace of man. After canoe- 
ing three hundred miles more, they approached the mouth 
of the Arkansas. Here they beheld a cluster of wigwams 
on the west bank. ''Their inmates were all astir, yelling 
the war-whoop, snatching their weapons, and running to 
the shore to meet the strangers," who were badly fright- 
ened. Several canoes filled with savages w^ere putting 
out from the shore, above and below them, to cut off their 
retreat, while a swarm of headstrong young warriors 
waded into the water to attack them. The current 
proved too strong ; and failing to reach the canoes of the 
Frenchmen, one of them threw his war-club, which flew 
over the heads of the startled travelers. Meanwhile, 
Marquette had not ceased to hold up his peace pipe given 
him by the Illinois, but the excited crowd gave no heed. 
They strung their bows and notched their arrows for im- 
mediate action. 

Saved by the Peace Pipe. When at length the elders 
of the village arrived and saw the peace pipe, they quieted 
the young men, and invited the Frenchmen to come ashore. 
Marquette and his companions did so, trembling with fear. 
They were more kindly received than they expected. One 
of the Indians spoke a little Illinois, and through him they 
had a friendly conference, followed by a feast. The 
Frenchmen spent the night here in the lodges of their 
hosts. 

Meeting with the Arkansas Nation. Early in the 
morning they passed on down to a village of the Arkan- 
sas tribe, about twenty-four miles below. ''Notice of 
their coming was sent before them by their late hosts; 
and as they drew near, they were met by a canoe, in the 
prow of which stood a naked Indian, holding a peace 
pipe, singing and making signs of friendship." 



MARQUETTE AND JOLIET. 33 

On reaching the village, which was on the east bank, 
opposite the mouth of the Arkansas, they were conducted 
to a sort of scaffold before the lodge of the war-chief. 
The space beneath had been prepared for their reception, 
the ground being covered with rush mats. On these they 
were seated, and the warriors sat around them in a semi- 
circle; then the elders of the tribe; and then the pro- 
miscuous crowd of villagers, standing and staring over the 
heads of the more dignified members of the assembly. 
All the men were naked ; but to compensate for the lack 
of clothing, they wore strings of beads in their noses and 
ears. 

The Indians Discourage the Frenchmen. By good 
luck, there was a young Indian in the village who had an 
excellent knowledge of Illinois, and through him Mar- 
quette endeavored to explain the mysteries of Chris- 
tianity, and to gain information concerning the river 
below. As is usual on such occasions, he gave them 
presents but received little in return. They told him that 
the Mississippi was infested with hostile Indians, armed 
with guns procured from the white men, and that they 
themselves stood in such fear that they dared not hunt 
the buffalo, but were forced to live on Indian corn, of 
which they raised three crops a year. The conference and 
feasting lasted all day, the Indians continually bring- 
ing in dishes of mush, boiled corn and dog flesh. 

Our Heroes Resolve to Return. ''The travelers now 
held a council as to what course they should take. They 
had gone far enough, as they thought, to establish one 
important point : that the Mississippi discharged its 
waters, not into the Atlantic or the Sea of Virginia, nor 
into the Gulf of California, but into the Gulf of Mexico. 
They thought themselves nearer to its mouth than they 



34 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

actually were, the clistance being still about seven hun- 
dred miles ; and they feared that if they went farther, 
they might be killed by Indiana or captured by Spaniards, 
whereby the results of their discovery would be lost. 
Therefore they resolved to return to Canada and report 
what they had seen." 

Toiling up the Mississippi. So, on July 17th, they 
began their homeward voyage. "It was no easy task 
to urge their way upward, in the heat of midsummer, 
against the current of the dark and gloomy stream, toil- 
ing all day in the parching sun and sleeping at night on 
the swampy and unhealthy shore, or in their narrow little 
canoes anchored in the river. ' ' Marquette was taken sick. 
Still, ''day after day, and week after week, they won 
their slow way northward. ' ' 

Upon the Beautiful Illinois. ''At length they 
reached the mouth of the Illinois, and entering it fol- 
lowed its course, charmed as they went with its shady 
forests and its rich plains, grazed by the bison and the 
deer." They stopped at the chief village of the Illinois, 
then called Kaskaskia. * A band of warriors offered to 
guide them to the lake of the Illinois, that is to say. Lake 
Michigan. They proceeded by the way of the Illinois, 
the Des Plaines, and the Chicago rivers to Lake Michigan, 
and coasting its shores, they arrived at the mission of 
Green Bay in September. During the four months 
since they had left this mission they had traveled 2,500 
miles. Here IMarquette spent the winter trying to re- 
cover his health, while Joliet hastened to bear the report 
of his discovery to Count Frontenac at Quebec. 



* Not the village founded later by the French near the Mississippi. 



MARQUETTE AND JOLIET. 35 

Marquette Sets out for the Illinois Again. It was a 
year before i\iarquette had regained his health and 
strength. The strong desire to establish a mission on the 
Illinois still urged him on. He obtained permission from 
his superiors, and with two companions named Pierre 
and Jacques, one of whom had been with him on his great 
journey of discovery, he set out for the chief village of 
the Illinois. They coasted south along the shore of Lake 
]\Iie]iigan, entered the Chicago River and followed its 
course for some six miles, when Marquette's disease at- 
tacked him in a more severe form, and it Avas impossible 
to proceed farther. The two men built a hut by the river 
and prepared to spend the winter there. Pierre and 
Jacques provided buffalo, deer, and wild turkey for food. 
Visiting Indians sometimes brought corn and game. Here 
French traders came upon them too, and befriended them. 

Mission Established. Marquette, too weak to work, 
spent much time in prayer. He knew this would be his 
last journey, but he eagerly longed to lay the foundations 
of his mission before he died. Growing stronger, they 
crossed the portage to the Des Plaines and paddled south- 
word till they came to the Illinois river, w^hich they fol- 
lowed till they reached the chief toAvn of the Illinois 
Indians, near Starved Rock. Here Marquette says he was 
received "like an angel from Heaven." He passed from 
wigwam to wigwam, teaching the truths of the Christian 
religion. The beauty of his character took strong hold 
on these savage minds, and they begged him to remain 
with them. 

On His Last Journey. Realizing that his health was 
gone, and that he had not long to live, Marquette started 
on his last journey, accompanied by a crowd of Indians 
as far as Lake Michigan. His two companions rowed 



36 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

north along the east shore, hoping to reach Mackinac. 
But Marquette felt that his hour was near, and as they 
passed a small stream he requested them to land. They 
did so, built a shed near the shore, and carried the dying 
Jesuit to it. He calmly told them how he wished to be 
buried, asked their forgiveness for all the trouble he had 
caused them, and thanked God that he w^as permitted 
to die in the wilderness, a faithful missionary and a 
Jesuit. They dug a grave beside the hut, and here they 
buried him, as he had directed, then made their way to 
Mackinac to bear the tidings to the priests at the mission. 
Marquette's Final Resting Place. Some years later, a 
party of Ottawa Indians was hunting on Lake Michigan, 
and when they returned home they carried the bones of 
Marquette, who had been their teacher. Opening the grave, 
they washed and dried the bones and placed them in a 
box of birch bark. ''Then in a procession of thirty 
canoes they bore it, singing their funeral songs, to St. 
Ignace, where they buried it beneath the floor of the little 
chapel of the mission." 



CHAPTER III 
ROBERT CAVALIER DE LA SALLE 

Young La Salle Becomes a Jesuit. Robert Cavelier de 
La Salle was born of a rich family at Rouen, France, in 
1643. As he grew toward manhood, his mind became 
filled with a desire to win glory and make a name for 
himself. He had heard of the heroic lives of the Jesuits 
in the American forests, and, since he liked to study, he 
entered a Jesuit school, where he proved himself an apt 
scholar. 

But this life was not to his liking, because the rules 
of the order were very strict, and he had to obey his 
superiors. He wished rather to be a leader himself, and 
tell others what to do. So he parted from the Jesuits 
and, having lost his right to inherit his father's w^ealth 
because of his connection with this sect, he set out for 
the wilds of America to make his fortune. 

La Salle at Montreal. We soon find him at Montreal, 
then the most dangerous place in Canada, because it w^as 
exposed to the frequent inroads of the Iroquois. They 
had been bitter enemies of the French since the days 
when Champlain fought wnth the Algonquins against 
them. But they had recently been punished by the 
French and forced to make peace. There was no know- 
ing what hour they might break out again, and no man 
could venture into the forest without taking his life in 
his hands. 



38 



THE STORY OF ILLINOIS. 



La Salle Longs to Explore the Wilderness. La Salle 
was given a grant of land at La Chine, eight miles above 
Montreal, on the St. Lawrence. This dangerous outpost 
was exposed to Indian tomahawks, but it was a fine loca- 
tion for fur trading. Here he built a palisaded village 
and granted land to settlers in small tracts. He studied 




"FATHER HENNEPIN AT NIAGARA" 

(After the Mural Painting by F. D. Millet, in the Cleveland Trust 

Building, Cleveland, Ohio) 



the Indian language so diligently that within two or 
three years he could speak the Iroquois and seven or eight 
other dialects. Many Indian visitors came to see him 
at La Chine, bringing their furs to exchange for Euro- 
pean finery, trinkets and goods. They told him much 
about the wild and lonely country toward the sunset. 



ROBERT CAVALIER DE LA SALLE 39 

His mind became filled with an intense longing to explore 
this great pathless wilderness. He hoped he might find 
a passage to the South Sea, Gulf of California, and a 
new road for commerce to the riches of China and Japan. 

La Salle Hears of the Ohio. A band of Seneca-Iroquois 
once spent the Avinter with him. They told him about 
the Ohio — a river in their country which flowed into the 
sea so far away that it required a journey of many 
months to reach its mouth. No white man had ever yet 
seen the Ohio. La Salle thought it might flow into the 
Gulf of California, and, if so, it would give him the 
longed-for passage to China. 

The First White Man Sees the Ohio. He determined 
to explore this river, and hastened to Quebec to lay his 
plans before Frontenac. He w^on the Governor's permis- 
sion to make the trip, provided he bore the entire expense. 
La Salle had no money, but he concluded to sell his prop- 
erty at La Chine, which he did. He then bought four 
canoes and the supplies he needed, and hired fourteen 
men. Others joined the party, and they started from La 
Chine up the St. Lawrence, guided by the Indians. They 
coasted the south shore of Lake Ontario till they arrived 
at the mouth of the Niagara. 

Everything seemed to go wrong. Some of the party 
would not follow La Salle. The Iroquois were unfriendly 
and refused to furnish guides. They told him that the 
Indians along that river w^ould take his scalp. La Salle 
knew no such word as fear. He had a Avill like iron, 
and his heart was set on the success of tlie expedition. 
Some of his party left him to return to Canada, while 
others went westward along the Great Lakes. La Salle 
made his way with an Indian guide from a friendly tribe 
to the head waters of the Ohio, and floated down as far 



40 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

as the falls at Louisville. Soon the news of Marquette's 
explorations reached his ears, and he became convinced 
that the Mississippi flowed, not west into the Gulf of 
California, but south into the Gulf of Mexico, and that he 
could win undying glory by seizing this magnificent val- 
ley for France. 

The Great Plans of La Salle. He would discover the 
mouth of the Mississippi, build a fort there, and thus keep 
out both the English and Spanish, and at the same time 
make it safe for the ships of France to navigate on the 
Mississippi and its tributaries. 

La Salle learned from the Indians, as did Marquette, 
that the Mississippi was so far south that it would not 
freeze during the winter, and that the French could traffic 
with the Indians there at all seasons. Fortunes could 
soon be made in hides of buffalo and furs, and at the same 
time France would gain a vast continent. Perhaps La 
Salle thought he might obtain command of this fort, and 
so become immensely rich by controlling all this trade. 

Frontenac a Friend to La Salle. He must first win 
the support of the authorities in Canada and obtain 
money, for it would require vast means to carry out his 
plans. He returned to Canada and conferred with 
Frontenac who had recently come to America, a ruined 
man, bent on mending his fortune. Frontenac had built 
a fort on Lake Ontario, where Kingston now stands, and 
by this means had cut off the rich fur trade that had been 
going on with the English and Dutch on the Hudson. 
All the profits of this splendid business now fell to him. 
The other merchants and traders of Canada, chafing be- 
cause they had no part in this trade, became bitter ene- 
mies of the Governor and also of La Salle, who took sides 
with Frontenac. 



ROBERT CAVELIER DE LA SALLE 



41 



Louis XIV. Bestows a Blessing but No Money. La 

Salle returned to France armed with letters of praise 
from Frontenae, and was kindly received at the court of 
Louis XIV. The explorer made two requests of the king. 
He wished to receive a title of nobility because of his 
explorations, and to be made commander of this new fort 
on Lake Ontario, which he named Fort Frontenae. La 
Salle offered to pay back to the king all the fort cost, 




THE BUILDING OF THE GRIFFON 

(From an Old Print) 



to maintain the fort, pay the soldiers there, as well as 
the laborers, to build a church and to support friars — 
all at his own expense. The King granted both petitions, 
and La Salle returned to Canada a noble, and commander 
at Fort Frontenae, where he might easily amass a fortune 
by controlling the greater part of the Canadian fur trade. 
Frontenae, of course, shared in this good fortune. 



42 TPIE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

La Salle Rebuilds Fort Frontenac. But La Salle was 
not satisfied with mere riches. He had not sought con- 
trol at Frontenac for the sole object of wealth, but partly 
because it was a step toward his plan of getting control 
of the Mississippi valley, and planting a colony there. 
He had no doubt made much money at Frontenac, 
but he had also spared no pains to fulfill the conditions 
under which it was granted to him. He had rebuilt the 
fort of stone, constructed a guard house, a lodging, a 
forge, a mill and a bakery. Nine cannon were mounted 
upon the walls. He had founded a settlement of both 
Indians and French, and had built four ships for use on 
the lakes and rivers. 

La Salle Makes Enemies. At the same time he had 
made many bitter enemies. All the traders in the country 
joined against him for monopolizing the fur trade, and 
''Canada became for him a nest of hornets, buzzing in 
wrath, and watching the moment to sting." 

The Jesuits troubled Frontenac because he preferred 
other priests to them, and he paid them back in the same 
coin. They naturally had no love for La Salle either, for 
these two were usurping most of the power in Canada 
that had formerly rested with the Jesuits. When La 
Salle's plan of exploring and colonizing the West was 
known, the Jesuit opposition took deep root, for they 
sought control over this same region. 

Louis XIV. Again Smiles on La Salle. La Salle now 
believed the time ripe to push his plans. He left the fort 
in charge of a lieutenant and set sail for France, 1677. 
His enemies had sent word before him that he was fit 
only for a madhouse. But friends pleaded his cause 
before the king, who gave him permission to explore the 
West, to build other forts upon the same conditions as 



ROBERT CAVELIER DE LA SALLE 43 

that at Fort Frontenac, and to find a route to ]\Iexico. 
La Salle was to bear the entire expense. The powerful 
Louis XIV. wanted all the land he could get in America, 
if some one else would pay the bills. 

To carry out La Salle's plans would require an enor- 
mous sum of money. He did not have the funds himself, 
l)ut succeeded in borrowing a vast amount from relatives 
and friends in France. He also mortgaged Fort Fron- 
tenac. He was staking his own fortune and that of every 
one Avlio would loan him, on the success of his under- 
taking. La Salle himself believed, and he convinced 
others, that there would be great profits and little risk 
in it. 

A Faithful Lieutenant. While at Paris, La Salle met 
and attached to himself an Italian officer, Henri de Tonty, 
who had lost a hand in the war of Sicily. This hand had 
been replaced by one of iron which he often used with 
great force upon his enemies. Tonty came to be called 
in America the ''Man wnth the Iron Hand." He was the 
one man who remained true to La Salle to the last. 

La Salle also met in France a man named La Motte, 
whom he invited to join his expedition. With these two 
La Salle returned to Quebec, where he made a league with 
some Canadian merchants, in order to further add to his 
resources. 

Two Ships Planned. La Salle's band of ship- 
carpenters, blacksmiths, pilots, sailors and priests gath- 
ered at Fort Frontenac with the iron, cordage and anchors 
for two vessels, one of which was to be built on Lake 
Erie above Niagara Falls, and the other on the Mississ- 
ippi. Father Hennepin joined the party and became its 
historian. 



44 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

Off to the West. La Motte and Hennepin with sixteen 
men, set sail in advance in a little vessel bound for the 
Niagara River. After a stormy and dangerous voyage 
they entered this river, on December 5th, and landed 
near a village of the Senecas, attracted there by the fish- 
eries. Hennepin with several others started up the 
Niagara in canoes, to explore. The fury of the mighty 
rapids drove them ashore. They pushed on afoot up the 
steep heights through the wintry forests, until they be- 
held the magnificent cataract. 

La Motte now began building a fortified house a few 
miles above the mouth of Niagara, some ten miles below 
the falls. Hot water was necessary to soften the frozen 
ground, but this was not their only trouble, for the neigh- 
boring Senecas grew sullen and unfriendly. By control- 
ling the Niagara, the Indians had possession of a profit- 
able fur trade carried on between the four great lakes to 
the west and the Dutch and English at Albany. 

La Motte and the Senecas. La Motte saw the neces- 
city of making friends with these powerful tribes, and 
getting their consent to the erection of his fortified ware- 
house, and to the building of a ship on Lake Erie. So, 
with many valuable presents and heavily armed with 
guns, La Motte and Hennepin set forth on a five-day 
march toward the great village of the Senecas, situated 
near the present site of Rochester, N. Y. Upon arriving, 
they were conducted to the lodge of the great head chief 
about whom were squatted on the ground, forty-two other 
chiefs clothed in robes of beaver, wolf or black squirrel 
skin. La Motte tried with all his power to persuade the 
Indians that his plans would benefit them. He "placed 
gift upon gift at their feet — coats, scarlet cloth, hatchets, 
knives and beads." They gladly accepted the gifts, but 



ROBERT CAVELIER DE LA SALLE 45 

when pressed for their coiiseut, they hung back. The 
presence among them of two Jesuit priests perhaps ac- 
counts for their refusal. The party returned unsuccess- 
ful and half-famished to Niagara. 

La Salle Successful. .They had no sooner left the 
Indian village, when La Salle and Tonty arrived at this 
very spot. La Salle w^as on his way from Fort Frontenac 
to join La Motte, but after an unlucky voyage he had 
landed near these Indians. Always skillful in dealing 
with the red men, La Salle won over the Senecas to his 
plans. 

La Salle's Troubles Begin. A few days later the pilot 
left in charge of the vessel, while La Salle w^as exploring 
the Niagara, disobej^ed orders and wrecked the ship on 
the coast. Little was saved except the anchors and cables 
for the new vessel. This was a bitter disappointment to 
La Salle, and anyone but him, says Hennepin, would have 
been so downcast as to have given up the enterprise. His 
quarrelsome, jealous crew of French, Dutch and Italians 
was discouraged and hard to manage because his ene- 
mies had tampered wath them. La Motte was not to be 
depended upon either, but, by good luck, he became ill 
and had to return to Fort Frontenac. Tonty alone was 
loyal and true. 

Portage Around Niagara Falls. The next difficult task 
was to carry the heavy supplies for the new vessel up the 
steep heights and around Niagara Falls, through snow^ 
forests, to quiet water above, a distance of twelve miles. 
This done, they felled trees, cleared a place and set the 
ship-builders at work. A few sullen Senecas, w^ho had 
not gone off on the annual hunt, loitered about and acted 
suspiciously. One of them, pretending to be drunk, tried 
to kill the blacksmith, but a red hot bar of iron kept him 



46 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

off till Hennepin came up and rebuked the Indian. They 
then threatened to burn the ship before it was launched, 
but the Frenchmen kept strict guard. The Senecas re- 
fused to supply them with corn, and the men, half starved, 
because of the loss of their provisions on Lake Ontario, 
were discontented and anxious to desert. Two friendly 
Mohegans saved the day by bringing in deer and other 
game. 

A Long Journey on Foot. La Salle laid out a fort and 
set some of his men to work on it. He left the faithful 
Tonty in charge of the building of the ship and set out 
on foot for Fort Frontenac, two hundred and fifty miles 
away, to secure supplies to replace those lost in the 
wreck. He and his two companions trudged through the 
snowy forests and over the ice to Lake Ontario, living 
on parched corn. This gave out, and for two days they 
had no food. 

Tonty and The Griffon. Tonty meanwhile finished the 
vessel, and as spring opened, it was launched with much 
ceremony. "The friar pronounced his blessing upon her; 
the assembled company sang the Te Dcum, cannon were 
fired ; and French and Indians, warmed alike by a gener- 
ous gift of brandy, shouted and yelped in chorus as she 
glided into the Niagara. Her builders towed her out 
and anchored her in the stream, safe at last from 
incendiary hands, and then swinging their hammocks 
under her deck, slept in peace beyond the reach of the 
tomahawk. The Indians gazed on her with amazement. 
Five small cannon looked out of her portholes, and on 
her prow was carved a portentous monster, the Griffon, 
whose name she bore." 



CHAPTER IV 
LA SALLE VISITS THE ILLINOIS INDIANS 

A Hard Blow From His Enemies. La Salle returned 
to Fort Niagara in August, bringing a tale of another 
misfortune. His enemies had convinced those who had 
made loans to him that he had gone on a reckless, fool- 
hardy expedition, and would never return. Whereupon, 
his creditors, excited by these rumors, seized on all of La 
Salle's property, though that at Fort Frontenac alone 
would have more than paid his debts. There? was nothing 
he could do about it, however, for to have given up his 
enterprise would have given his enemies just the victory 
they sought. La Salle bore the blow with a brave heart. 

The First Ship Sails Lake Erie. The Griffon was 
taken up the Niagara with tow-ropes and sails. On the 
seventh of August, 1679, La Salle and his followers fired 
their cannon, sang the Te Deiim, and steered westward 
on Lake Erie where sail was never seen before. After a 
voyage of three days, they returned northward into a river 
which La Salle named Detroit. They soon emerged into 
a small lake which he called St. Clair. Passing through 
the lake and a river beyond, they came out upon Lake 
Huron. Here a violent tempest overtook them and all 
but sent them to the bottom. The angry lake quieted, 
however, and the Griffon made her way to Mackinac and 
from there to Green Bay. 



48 



THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 



Robbed by His Agents. Before leaving Niagara, La 
Salle had sent ahead a number of traders laden with 
goods and trinkets to be exchanged for fur. Most of 
these traders deserted him, taking with them the valuable 
furs they had bought with his goods. Only those sent 




"LA SALLE ON LAKE ERIE" 

(After the Mural Painting by F. D. Millet, in the Cleveland Trust 

Building, Cleveland, Ohio) 

to Green Bay remained faithful, and had collected a rich 
cargo for the Griffon. 

La Salle resolved to send the Griffon back to Niagara 
laden with furs, collected here and along the way, in 
order to pay certain debts. He knew that he was risking 
everything upon a pilot who had not proved entirely 



LA SALLE VISITS THE ILLINOIS INDIANS 49 

trustworthy, but he thought best not to go himself, for 
he feared that the rest of the men would desert. Besides, 
he saw that his enemies were stirring up the Iroquois to 
make war upon the Illinois Indians in order to defeat 
his plans. Tonty w^ould have been sent back with the 
Griffon, but he had gone to Sault Ste. Marie to arrest the 
deserting fur traders, and had not yet returned. 

Her Cargo. The Griffon sailed for Niagara with La 
Salle's entire fortune. He had even left on board part 
of his goods and implements that could not be transported 
easily in canoes. She had orders to return to the southern 
end of Lake Michigan, as soon as possible after discharg- 
ing her cargo. From Green Bay, La Salle and his party 
pushed southward along the western shore of the lake 
in four canoes heavily laden w^ith a forge, tools, merchan- 
dise and arms. They encountered two dreadful storms, 
but each time made shore safely. They shuddered when 
they thought of the Griffon riding such a tempest. La 
Salle was advised by some of the red men along Lake 
Michigan not to go to the country of the Illinois, for that 
tribe hated the French for stirring up the Iroquois against 
them. This information convinced La Salle that his ene- 
mies had hatched this scheme of Indian wars in order 
to ruin him. Nevertheless, he coasted on south, past 
where Chicago now stands and around the southern 
shore of the lake, to the mouth of the St. Joseph river, 
which he named Miami, from an Indian tribe dwelling 
near. Here Tonty was to meet him, coming from Macki- 
nac along the eastern shore of the lake. 

They Wait for Tonty. But Tonty was nowhere to be 
seen. Winter was approaching, and supplies were low. 
They must either starve or attempt to reach the country 
of the Illinois, before that tribe went off on its winter 



50 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

hunt. La Salle's men urged him to set out at once, but 
he would not desert the faithful Tonty. He put his men 
to work building a fort to divert their minds. After 
twenty days, Tonty arrived with but half his men. The 
others who had been delayed to procure food, since sup- 
plies had given out, came up a few days later. But 
Tonty brought no tidings of the Griffon. She had had 
more than time to make the voyage to Niagara 
and back again, and La Salle watched anxious- 
ly for her approach. Day after day they scanned 
the horizon, but no sail appeared. With heavy hearts 
La Salle's men prepared to go on without the supplies 
she was to bring. He sent two men to Mackinac to 
await her coming and to direct her to Fort Miami. On 
Dec. 3, 1679, La Salle and his men embarked and paddled 
up the St. Joseph in eight canoes. When they reached 
the present site of South Bend they began looking for 
a portage to the head waters of the Kankakee. 

Loses His Way. The Mohegan guide was absent, hunt- 
ing, and they passed by the path without noticing it. La 
Salle started out alone to search for it. The snow was 
falling and he lost his way in the tangled forests. When 
hours had passed without his return, Hennepin and Tonty 
grew uneasy and began to scour the country for him. 
They fired several guns, but the deep, silent forests made 
no reply. Night came on, and still their lost leader did 
not appear. They sat down sadly to consider what might 
have happened to him. It was not till the next afternoon 
that he returned with two 'possums hanging to his belt. 
These he had killed with a club as they hung head down- 
ward from the branches of a tree. He had lost his bear- 
ings and had tried to circle a great swamp. He, too, had 
fired signals, but no sound replied except the echo. 



LA SALLE VISITS THE ILLINOIS INDIANS 51 

lie finally came in sight of a smoking camp fire to which 
he hastened, only to find it deserted. He called out in 
all the Indian tongues known to him, but the savages, 
if there were any, did not respond. So he crawled into 
a bed of leaves by the fire and slept till morning. 

Portage to Kankakee. Before La Salle's return, the 
Mohegan hunter had rejoined the party and quickly 
pointed out the portage path. On the following morning 
they shouldered canoes and baggage and trudged through 
the snowy forests to a branch of the Kankakee, four miles 
away. They saw around them dreary plains, strewn with 
skulls and bones of buffalo. One of the party walking 
behind La Salle, against whom he had a grudge, raised 
his gun to shoot his leader, but was prevented by another. 
They had at last found a stream that would carry 
them to the Mississippi, and on it they were soon afloat. 
Day after day they passed through the dreary, lifeless 
forests. At night they spread their mat beds around the 
glowing camp fire, while the wintry wind whistled through 
the forest about them. 

A Lucky Find. Their supplies were running low be- 
cause the ]\Iohegan hunter could bring down only two 
lean deer and a few wild geese. La Salle's men would have 
deserted, but they did not see how that would keep them 
from starving. Finally, they came upon a buffalo bull 
fast in the mire. They killed him, threw a line around 
his body, and by pulling and tugging together, twelve 
men dragged it out. 

A Deserted Indian Village. Passing by the site of 
the future town of Ottawa, and by Buffalo Rock, a favor- 
ite dwelling place of Indians, they glided among some 
islands and saw overhanging the river a lofty cliff, known 
later as Starved Rock. 



52 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

They floated down the beautiful Illinois river bordered 
by broad meadows, and on the right the low hills where 
Utica now stands. Hennepin counted at this point four 
hundred sixty Indian lodges. These were built of a 
frame work of poles covered with mats of rushes, with 
an arched top. Each lodge contained three or four fire- 
places, and accommodated from six to eight families. Here 
then, were the homes of several thousand Illinois Indians, 
but they were nowhere to be seen. The homes were 
empty and the fires out. All about was dead silence. 

La Salle Finds the Corn Pits. La Salle knew that this 
was the winter hunting season, and this city of deserted 
homes was no great surprise to him. He was, however, 
at a loss to know wiiat to do, for he had expected to pur- 
chase corn and supplies here for his half-famished fol- 
lowers. They searched the deserted town and found 
covered pits in which the red men hid their stock of corn. 
They could not buy ; for there was no one to pay. To 
take the corn without bargaining for it, might offend the 
Indians. La Salle hesitated, and finally decided to supply 
their wants with the hope of paying for it later. So they 
opened the pits, filled their canoes and resumed their 
voyage down the Illinois. 

Prepares for Peace or War. Early in January, they 
reached the widening in the river now known as Peoria 
Lake. As they floated slowly down the lake to the pres- 
ent site of Peoria, they beheld in the distance faint lines 
of blue smoke rising above the gray forests. They knew 
this must be the Illinois tribe on their winter hunt. La 
Salle had been warned that these tribes regarded him as 
their enemy. They had been led to believe that he had 
stirred up the Iroquois against them. So upon approach- 
ing their camp, he prepared for peace or war. 



LA SxVLLE VISITS THE ILLINOIS INDIANS 53 

The lake had now narrowed to a river, and La Salle 
arranged his canoes in battle line across the stream, with 
Tonty commanding one end, and he, himself, commanding 
the other end of the line. As the current bore them on 
abreast, they put aside their paddles and seized their 
guns. In this array they were carried unnoticed into the 
Indian camp which lined both banks. 

The Indians Surprised. The savages were panic- 
stricken. Warriors whooped and howled, squaws and 
children screeched in chorus. Some snatched their war 
clubs and bows ; some ran in terror ; and, in the midst 
of the hubbub. La Salle leaped ashore followed by his 
men. La Salle knew that the best way to deal with the 
Indians was to show no sign of fear, and to let them first 
offer the peace pipe. So his little band stood, gun in 
hand, ready for battle. Two Indian chieftains hastened 
forward, holding out the calumet. La Salle now offered 
his peace pipe, also. The uproar quieted at once, and 
messengers hastened to bring back the fleeing savages. 

La Salle Lays His Plans Before the Illinois. The whole 
village now greeted the Frenchmen and feasted them, 
much as they had Marquette years before. Gifts were ex- 
changed, and La Salle told them that he had been forced 
to take corn from their pits to keep his men from starv- 
ing, but he promised either to pay for it in full or to 
return it. He said he had come to protect them from their 
enemies and to teach them to obey the true God. He 
promised to furnish them with guns, and to fight for them 
m case the Iroquois attacked them. La Salle told them 
also, that he would like to build a fort close by to protect 
his men. He wished to build a great wooden canoe, too, 
in which to descend the Mississippi to the sea and return. 
In this way he would furnish them all the white men's 



54 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

goods they needed. If they were unwilling for him to do 
these things he Avould have to go to their enemies, the 
Osages, who would reap all the benefits of friendship 
and trade with the French, while the Illinois were left 
unprotected and at the mercy of the powerful Iroquois. 
Being very jealous of the Osages, the Illinois readily 
granted all he asked. 

La Salle's Enemies Still Busy. They had sent an 
Indian chief, Monso, with gifts of knives, hatchets and 
kettles to the Illinois. In a secret midnight council, he 
told the Illinois that La Salle was a spy of the dreaded 
Iroquois and could not be trusted. Monso said that La 
Salle was now on his way across the Mississippi to stir 
up those tribes to join in a war against the Illinois, who 
would thus be attacked by enemies from both the west 
and the east at the same moment, and utterly destroyed. 
He advised the Illinois, in order to save themselves from 
ruin, to check La Salle and cause his men to desert him. 

When morning came, Monso had departed and La 
Salle found his hosts sullen and suspicious. He, of course, 
did not know that Monso had been there, and could not 
understand why the Illinois had changed so suddenly 
from friends to foes. During the day he w^on the secret 
from a chief by the gift of two hatchets and three knives. 

The Illinois Chief Points out Dangers. In the after- 
noon the head chief invited the visitors to a feast, where 
he told them of the dangers of descending the Mississippi. 
He said the shores of the *' Father of Waters'' were beset 
by populous tribes of bold, fierce braves, against whom it 
would be hopeless for a handful of palefaces to contend. 
The river, too, was alive with serpents, alligators and 
monsters ; it was a raging torrent, leaping among rocks 
and whirlpools ; and at its mouth it plunged headlong into 



LA SALLE VISITS THE ILLINOIS INDIANS 55 

a bottomless gui±*. This speech frightened many of La 
Salle's men, who were already on the point of deserting. 
La Salle replied very calmly, thanking the chief for his 
friendly warning. But, said La Salle, the greater the 
danger, the greater the honor. Even if what the chief had 
said was true, it would not frighten his brave Frenchmen. 

The Lies of His Enemies Exposed. He told the Indians 
that he knew that they had been deceived by lies. "We 
were not asleep, my brother, when Monso came to tell 
you, under cover of night, that we were spies of the 
Iroquois. ''Why," asked La Salle, "did Monso skulk away 
in the dark, if he were telling the truth? Why did he 
not show himself in broad daylight?" La Salle showed 
them that the French had many chances to kill them 
without waiting for aid from the Iroquois. He asked 
them to go and bring Monso back, and let him speak out 
boldly. 

His Men Disloyal. The following night six of La 
Salle's men, including two of his best carpenters, de- 
serted. He called the remaining ones before him and re- 
minded them of his many favors. He told them that, if 
they were afraid of the unknown terrors of the Mississ- 
ippi, they might remain there until the next spring and 
then return to Canada without dishonor. This desertion 
was a severe blow to the iron-hearted leader. But this 
was not the worst. An attempt was made to kill La Salle 
by poisoning his food, but an antidote of a friend saved 
him. 

Builds Fort Crevecoeur. La Salle resolved to leave the 
Indian camp. He chose a site a few miles below for a 
fort. It stood on a hill with a deep ravine on either side, 
and a marsh in front. They dug a ditch behind the fort 
to connect both ravines, threw up embankments on all 



56 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

sides, with a palisade twenty-five feet high. The lodg- 
ings of the men were built of musket-proof timber at two 
corners, the house of the friar was at the third corner, 
and the forge and the magazine were at the fourth. The 
tents of La Salle and Tonty were within. 

This Fort, named Crevecoeur, Broken Heart, was the 
first permanent building of civilized man within the state. 
Up to this time, La Salle still hoped for the return of the 
Griffon, with the rigging and anchors for the new vessel 
with which he was to descend the Mississippi and sail 
to the West Indies. But now his hopes had vanished, he 
knew the ship bearing his fortune was lost. Nothing was 
ever heard of her. 

La Salle Returns to Far-off Canada. There was no 
building a ship for his journey to the Gulf without 
cables, anchors, and rigging, and Fort Frontenac was 
twelve hundred miles away. His stout heart would not 
give it up. He might himself make that long, dangerous 
voyage on foot to fetch these articles, but could he trust 
his men to hold the fort until his return? From some 
visiting Osages, La Salle learned the truth about the lower 
Mississippi, and this quieted the fears of his men. He 
decided to leave Tonty in command at the fort, to finish 
the new ship which was now well started, and to return 
himself to far-off Canada. With five companions he trav- 
eled the thousand miles to Fort Niagara in sixty-five days, 
enduring hunger, hardship and disease. 

Tonty Left in Command. When La Salle left Fort 
Crevecoeur on his perilous journey to Fort Frontenac, he 
placed Tonty over the small band left behind. It con- 
sisted of a few trusted men and a half-score of knaves 
who were already ripe for revolt. As La Salle passed 
Starved Rock, he noted that it was a fine site for a fort. 



LA SALLE VISITS THE ILLINOIS INDIANS 57 

and he sent word back to Tonty to fortify it. Tonty left 
some of his party to hold Fort Crevecoeur, while he and 
the others made their way up the river to the Illinois 
village a feAv miles above. The scoundrels left at the 
fort destroyed it, together with the arms and supplies, 
and set out for Canada. 

The Iroquois Approach. The Illinois tribes had now 
returned from their winter hunt to their village near 
Starved Rock. Tonty was living with them, when one 
day an Indian crossed the river in hot haste to report that 
a great horde of Iroquois was approaching. A panic fol- 
lowed. The w^arriors seized their arms ; women and 
children ran screaming about ; and an excited throng 
gathered about Tonty, charging him with stirring up the 
Iroquois. They seized his forge, tools and goods, and 
threw them into the river, and many called loudly for his 
scalp. But when he promised to fight for them against 
the ferocious Iroquois, they spared his life. 

The Illinois braves spent the night in preparing for 
the battle. They greased their bodies, painted their faces 
and be-feathered their heads. All night long they sang 
war songs, danced, yelled, and waved their tomahawks, 
to work up their courage for the coming onset. The 
squaws and children were sent to an island down the 
river. 

Tonty With a Flag of Truce. When the Iroquois ap- 
peared upon the plain in large numbers and well armed 
with guns, Tonty saw that the Illinois would be crushed. 
The battle opened w^th yells and terrific bowlings, and 
amid flying arrows and bullets, Tonty advanced alone 
toward the Iroquois holding out a wampum belt, as a flag 
of truce. He meant to remind the Iroquois that both they, 
and the Illinois were allies and friends of the French, 



58 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

and that they would get into a war with the French if 
they attacked the Illinois. 

The Iroquois at first did not take Tonty for a French- 
man, because of his dark complexion. They thronged 
about him with murder in their hearts, brandishing their 
tomahawks with fury. One warrior plunged his knife 
into the brave Tonty, but it glanced aside from a rib and 
did not reach his heart. Another standing behind was 
raising his hair to scalp him, when an old chief called 
out that his ears were not pierced, and that he must 
therefore be a Frenchman. The hot heads hesitated. 

Tonty Deceives the Iroquois. Breathless and bleed- 
ing, Tonty declared that the Illinois were under the pro- 
tection of Governor Frontenac. He told them that the 
Illinois had a great number of warriors, besides sixty 
Frenchmen to help them, and should be left in peace. 
Unwilling to incur the displeasure of Frontenac, and 
fearing the great number of French and Illinois warriors, 
they sent Tonty back with a belt of peace. Dizzy and 
fainting from loss of blood, Tonty rejoined his friends, 
and was warmly embraced by the two friars. 

But the Iroquois were blood-thirsty, and the truce 
was sure to be broken. So the Illinois burned their vil- 
lage, and retreated down the river. The Iroquois took 
possession of their burning lodges and fortified them- 
selves. 

Saved by His Wits. During this time, Tonty and his 
men occupied a hut not far away. The Iroquois becoming 
suspicious, made the Frenchmen come into their fort. 
They soon learned that Tonty had deceived them as to 
the number of Illinois warriors and French, and they 
turned angrily upon him. ''AYhere are your sixty 
men?" they demanded. They said he had robbed them 



LA SALLE VISITS THE ILLINOIS INDIANS 59 

of the glory and spoils of victory, and, in revenge, they 
thought he should be killed. Tonty was cool-headed and 
tactful, and managed to escape their fury. 

The Iroquois Blood-thirsty. Some days later, they 
summoned Tonty to a council and presented him with six 
packs of beaver skins. One was to say that the Gov- 
ernor's children, the cowardly Illinois, should not be 
eaten; the second was a plaster to heal Tonty 's wound; 
another was oil to anoint him on his journey; the next 
said that the sun was bright; and the last required 
Tonty 's men to leave the country at once. Tonty thanked 
them for their gifts, but demanded to know if they would 
return home and leave the Illinois in peace. At this the 
Iroquois became angry, and one warrior w^as heard to 
say that before they left they would eat Illinois flesh. 
Tonty then kicked away the packs of beaver skins, and 
told them that if they were going to eat the Governor's 
children, he would have none of their presents. In anger 
they drove Tonty from the lodge, and ordered him and 
his men to be gone. Tonty saw that it was hopeless to try 
to prevent bloodshed, and that it was dangerous for him 
to remain exposed to the wolfish passions of the Iroquois. 
Tonty 's Journey to Mackinac. The Frenchmen set 
out for Green Baj^, living meanwhile on acorns, roots, 
and wild onions. Their canoe gave out, and they were 
compelled to go on afoot. They passed by where Chicago 
now stands, and followed the west shore of the lake. 
Tonty was taken with a fever and delayed, and starvation 
stared them in the face. Luckily, some friendly Indians 
gave them food, and at last they reached Mackinac. 
\ 



CHAPTER V 
LA SALLE ON THE GULF 

Bad News at Ft. Niagara. Upon arriving at Fort 
Niagara, La Salle learned the woeful tidings that not 
only had the Griffon disappeared with a loss of thousands 
of dollars, but that a ship from France with a large 
cargo of his goods had been wrecked and lost at the 
mouth of the St. Lawrence, and that the twenty hired 
men who had come from Europe to join him, had been 
told that he was either dead or had returned home. With- 
out loss of time, leaving his sick companions at Fort 
Niagara, he pushed on to Fort Frontenac. 

More 111 Luck. Upon his arrival there, stories of more 
ill fortune fell upon his ears. He found that his agents 
had squandered his money, his creditors had seized his 
property, and that several of his richly laden canoes had 
been lost in the rapids of the St. Lawrence. He hastened 
to Montreal where he overcame all his evil fortune with 
wonderful courage, and was soon on his way back to 
Fort Frontenac with supplies for his new ship on the 
Illinois. 

La Salle Receives a Letter from Tonty. No sooner 
had he reached Ft. Frontenac, than a blow more severe 
than all the others fell upon him. In a letter from Tonty, 



LA SALLE ON THE GULF 61 

he learned that soon after he left Ft. Crevecoeur for 
Canada, nearly all of the men left with Tonty deserted, 
after destroying the fort, and throwing into the river all 
the arms and stores they could not carry off with them. 
These scoundrels then went to the fort on the St. Joseph, 
where they seized valuable furs belonging to their leader, 
destroyed the fort, and pushed on toward Montreal, to 
save themselves from punishment. La Salle heard of 
their approach met them on Lake Ontario, and killed or 
captured the whole party. 

Headed Again for Illinois. With carpenters, joiners, 
masons and soldiers, together with the outfit for the ves- 
sel, La Salle was soon on his way to bring aid to his 
faithful lieutenant, Tonty. Another toilsome journey, and 
his party landed at the fort on the St. Joseph, where he 
left the heavy stores to be brought on as speedily as 
possible. With a handful of men, he pushed on ahead 
with anxious heart to join Tonty. Up the St. Joseph, 
across the portage and down the Kankakee they went, 
with no word or sign of Tonty 's having passed that way. 
La Salle hoped that Tonty was still at his post. 

A Buffalo Hunt. As they paddled down the Illinois 
they beheld a wonderful sight. ''Far and near the prairie 
was alive with buffalo; now like black specks dotting 
the distant swells; now trampling by in ponderous col- 
umns, or filing in long lines morning, noon and night, to 
drink at the river — wading, plunging and snorting in 
the water; climbing the muddy shores and staring with 
wild eyes at the passing canoes. It was an opportunity 
not to be lost. The party landed and encamped for a 
hunt. Sometimes they hid under the shelving bank and 
shot the buffaloes as they came to drink ; sometimes, flat 
on their faces, they dragged themselves through the long 



62 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

dead grass, till the savage bulls, guardians of the herd, 
ceased their grazing, raised their huge heads and glared 
through their tangled hair at the intruders. The hunt 
was successful. In three days they killed twelve buffaloes, 
besides deer, geese, and swans. They cut the meat into 
thin flakes and dried it in the sun or in the smoke of 
their fires." 

Down the Illinois. With a plentiful supply, they 
pushed on in joy to relieve Tonty and his hungry fol- 
lowers. They passed the cliff afterward called Fort St. 
Louis, Starved Eock, where La Salle had advised Tonty 
to build a fort. But as they scanned the lofty top, there 
was neither cabin nor palisade to be seen. 

Soon they beheld the site of the once populous village 
of the Illinois, but where were the swarming savages? 
The plain was strewn with ashes, charred poles that had 
once been the frame-work of the lodges, and human skulls. 

The Butchery of the Iroquois. The fiendish Iroquois 
had blotted out the village and slain all the inhabitants. 
The pits had been rifled and the corn fields laid waste. 
There were signs of savage horror on every hand. One 
thought filled La Salle's mind, where were Tonty and his 
men? He searched the ruins for trace of them, but in 
vain. 

Leaving three of his men in hiding on an island in the 
river, with orders to make no smoke by day, to conceal 
their fire by night, and to fire no guns, he journeyed down 
the Illinois with four men heavily armed, each having 
two guns, a pistol and a sword, to locate Tonty. He 
passed place after place where the opposing Indian armies 
had camped, but still no traces of Tonty. He came upon 
the dismantled Fort Crevecoeur and the half -finished ship. 




SCALE OF MILES 



KEYl 

Joliet's Journey +++++■•-++++++ 
La Salle's Voyage o-<;_<>__».>M._o-Oi 
Tonty's Voyage __.._^..^^..^ 



FRENCH EXPLORERS IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 



LA SALLE ON THE GULF 63 

still unharmed. The silence of death reigned throughout 
this vast country. 

La Salle's First View of the Mississippi. On down the 
river went the mighty La Salle, till the "Father of 
Waters" met his view. He saw where the Illinois had 
made their last stand against the victorious Iroquois, and 
the field of the war-dance wiiere the women and children 
of the Illinois braves had been tortured and burned at 
the stake. 

His faithful followers oifered to accompany him to 
the sea, but La Salle did not wish to abandon those left 
on the island, and he believed Tonty had gone north; so 
the party retraced its steps and picked up the three men 
on the island, and soon reached the St. Joseph again. 
Here the men had rebuilt the fort and cleared ground 
for planting, but they had no tidings of Tonty. 

With his supplies, tools and arms at Fort Crevecoeur 
destroyed and his company scattered, his second expe- 
dition which had cost so much in money, in toil and in 
hardship, was a failure. His white enemies had beaten 
him by setting the red men to destroy each other. 

Another Long Trip to Canada. Would La Salle give 
up? He knew no such word as fail. Nothing could turn 
him from his purpose of discovering the mouth of the 
Mississippi and building a fort there. His voyage de- 
pended upon supplies which could be had only in Canada, 
and to Canada he must go again — that long, toilsome 
journey through the wilderness. He met Tonty at 
Mackinac, and together they trudged and paddled to 
Fort Frontenac. 

What could he say to those who had loaned thousands 
to further his expeditions, both of which had failed ? His 



64 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

iron will overcame all obstacles, and he was soon back on 
the Illinois with his supplies. 

Canoeing Down the Mississippi. He now gave up the 
plan of building a ship, but set out in canoes down the 
Mississippi. Day after day, and week after week, found 
them slowly drifting southward. They passed the mouths 
of great rivers, visited many strange tribes, and were 
many times feasted on roast dog and other delicacies. 

Victory at Last. Finally they came to where the 
river divides into three broad channels. Soon they 
smelled the salt air of the sea. With eager eyes they 
looked ahead to catch the first glimpse of the ocean. 
Presently the broad bosom and the tossing waters of the 
long-sought Gulf of Mexico burst into view. Success 
had at last crowned the long years of patient toil and 
suffering, and La Salle had won a place for himself on 
the pages of history. 

La Salle Takes Possession of an Empire for His King. 
A short distance above the mouth, La Salle erected a 
column bearing the arms of France. The astonished 
Indians looked on in silence while the Frenchmen sang 
the Te Deiim, fired a salute with their muskets, and 
shouted ''Long live the King." La Salle then proclaimed 
in a loud voice that the entire Mississippi valley and the 
valleys of all the rivers that flowed into the Mississippi 
belonged to the King of France. In honor of his king, 
Louis XIV., he named this great land, Louisiana. Then a 
cross was planted beside the column and a leaden plate 
bearing the arms of France was buried at its base. On this 
plate in Latin were the words, ''Louis the Great Reigns." 
By this ceremony. La Salle gave to France a magnifi- 
cent present, the entire Mississippi valley from the Alle- 



LA SALLE ON THE GULF 



65 



ghanies to the Rockies, and from the Gulf to the Great 
Lakes. This region was then a wilderness inhabited 
by scattered tribes of dusky savages. In it today there 
are twenty great American states, dotted all over with 
thousands of farm houses and hundreds of cities, with 




'LOUIS THE GREAT REIGNS" 



their millions of happy, liberty-loving people. One of the 
greatest of these states is our own Illinois. Do you think 
La Salle knew what a wonderful empire he gave to his 
king that day? 



66 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

Bearing the News Homeward. The French turned 
back, and slowly forced their canoes northward against 
the muddy current of this mighty stream. The weather 
was warm and the swampy region brought severe illness 
to the great explorer. He was compelled to stop to regain 
strength, while he sent Tonty on to Mackinac with news 
of his success. As soon as he was able La Salle joined 
Tonty there. 

La Salle's Life Work Not Yet Done. Will not La 
Salle rest now? Will he not return to France to be re- 
ceived with honors and enjoy his last days? No, not he. 
His work is not yet done. He has resolved to build a 
line of forts from Canada to the mouth of the Mississ- 
ippi, so as to protect the region from the English and 
Spanish. He wished also to unite all the western tribes 
of Indians against the Iroquois and, by protecting these 
Indians, get all their rich furs to carry down the Mississ- 
ippi and to Europe by ship. 

In order to protect these Indians, La Salle had to make 
them friendly to each other. This was no easy task, 
but he knew the heart of the Indian, and they loved him. 
They finally agreed to become friends and to live to- 
gether in peace as children of "Onontio", as they called 
Frontenac. 

A Fort On Starved Rock. La Salle, in looking about 
for a good place to settle with his savage friends, de- 
cided upon Starved Rock, on the Illinois river, because 
here he could build a strong fort and with a handful of 
men could hold out against great odds. The beautiful 
Illinois river valley is very fertile, and corn, pumpkins 
and other Indian crops would grow easily. Besides, he 
could go by water from here to the sea. 



LA SALLE ON THE GULF 67 

''The cliff, called Starved Rock, * * * j-ises 
steep on three sides as a castle wall, to the height of a 
hundred twenty-five feet above the river. In front it 
overhangs the water that washes its base; its western 
brow looks down on the top of forest trees below; and, 
on the east lies a wide gorge or ravine, choked with the 
mingled foliage of oaks, walnuts and elms. * * * 
From the brink you may drop a plummet into the river 
below, where the cat-fish and the turtles may plainly be 
seen gliding over the wrinkled sands of the clear and 
shallow current. The cliff is accessible only from be- 
hind, where a man may climb up, not without difficulty, 
by a steep and narrow passage. The top is about an acre 
in extent." 

Many Tribes Gather About La Salle. On the top of 
this cliff. La Salle and Tonty built a palisaded fort in 
which were warehouses and dwellings, the timber for 
which they dragged up the steep and narrow path. This 
fort he named Fort St. Louis. The Indians soon gathered 
about their champion. On the plain beloAV, La Salle 
could look down upon bark lodges and log cabins, squaws 
laboring in the fields and warriors lounging in the sun. 
About this fortified eagle's nest gathered the Shawnees 
from the Ohio, Abenakis from Maine, Miamis from the 
Kankakee and the Illinois, who, to the number of six 
thousand had now returned to their favorite dwelling 
place. There were also the Weas and the Piankishaws. 
In all. La Salle says, there were twenty thousand, from 
whom could be mustered four thousand braves. 

Two Things Needed to Hold the Red Men Together. 
La Salle knew that in order to hold these savages to- 
gether, he would have to do two things. First, he must 
protect them from the dreaded Iroquois. Second, he 



68 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

must supply them with French goods in exchange for 
their furs. To bring all these things by way of Canada, 
where he had so many enemies, was risky. Frontenac 
had been called home to France, and a new governor, La 
Barre, who was unfriendly to La Salle, had taken his 
place. La Barre was jealous of La Salle and was bent 
on ruining him. He cut off supplies from going to Fort 
St. Louis, captured furs sent to Canada by La Salle, and 
even urged the Iroquois to again take the field against 
the Illinois. 

La Salle Sails On The Gulf. La Salle was desperate. 
He left Tonty at Fort St. Louis and set out for France 
by way of Quebec. At court he met with favor, and 
four ships were fitted out to go to the Gulf of Mexico 
and fortify the mouth of the Mississippi^ After many 
mishaps and many disputes between La Salle and the 
commander of the fleet, the expedition sailed past the 
mouth of the Mississippi without knowing it, and landed 
on the coast of Texas. 

His Misfortunes. One ship was captured by the Span- 
iards and another Avas wrecked, the waves scattering 
the provisions of La Salle's army along the Texan beach. 
Scores died of disease, and many deserted the noble La 
Salle. Some were killed by savages, others lost their 
lives by accident. 

His Death. Worn out by worry, disappointment, 
and the loss of his last ship. La Salle set out on foot to 
find the mouth of the Mississippi, but was brutally shot 
down by some of his own men. These murderers were 
themselves killed in a quarrel by their companions. At 
last, a few of La Salle's followers reached the mouth of 
of the Mississippi, and, following it, they arrived at 



LA SALLE ON THE GULF 69 

Fort St. Louis on the Illinois. Here Tonty received them 
kindly. But they did not tell him that their great com- 
mander lay dead npon the plains of Texas, slain by 
a scoundrel of his own band. Sometime later, Tonty 
learned from the Indians of the death of the great ex- 
plorer. 



CHAPTER VI 
KASKASKIA UNDER FRANCE AND ENGLAND 

La Salle's Village at Starved Rock Abandoned. After 
La Salle's departure from his settlement at Ft. St. Louis, 
Starved Rock, the Indians soon scattered and the Illi- 
nois tribe alone was left. Among them remained a num- 
ber of French traders, trappers and priests. Some years 
later, 1695, the rumor spread that the red-handed Iro- 
quois were coming again to match tomahawks with the 
Illinois. The Illinois had no relish for another encounter 
with this dreaded foe. So they moved down the river 
to the Mississippi, accompanied by the French priests 
and fur traders. This change may have been urged by 
the priests and ^ the traders, who wished to be in closer 
touch with the new French settlements on the Gulf of 
Mexico. 

Kaskaskia Founded. Between the mouths of the Illi- 
nois and the Kaskaskia rivers, there is a fine, fertile tract 
that came to be called the American Bottom. Here, 
near the banks of the Mississippi, the Illinois Indians 
pitched their wigwams. The town that soon grew up 
about them they called Kaskaskia, as they did also the 
river near by. 




"THE AMERICAN BOTTOM' 



KASKASKIA UNDER. FRANCE AND ENGLAND 71 

Starved Rock. Some members of the Illinois tribe 
had, however, chosen to remain upon the beautiful Illi- 
nois river. In 1769, they were charged with the assassi- 
nation of Pontiac, and the tribe with whom he had 
been connected attacked them from the nortli. A bloody 
engagement took place near the site of Fort St. Louis. 
Badly beaten, the Illinois band escaped in the night and 
climbed up the rocky bluff where the fort had been. Here 
they were besieged for twelve days. At last, being 
unable to get water and provisions, they resolved to sell 
their lives as dearly as possible, and to die fighting rather 
than to starve. They sallied forth to battle, but in their 
exhausted condition they fell easy victims to their watch- 
ful enemies below. The victors then climbed the heights 
and tomahawked the remaining ones, who had been too 
weak or too timid to join in the last struggle. Only one 
escaped to tell the tale. The whitening bones marked 
the summit of this bluff for years, and that is why it 
took the name of Starved Rock. 

Kaskaskia Flourishes. The new village of Kaskasia 
prospered. The soil of the great American Bottom was 
so rich that crops of squash, pumpkins and corn grew 
with little labor. This was a splendid location, too, for 
the fur trade. Canoes loaded with peltries paddled down 
the Wisconsin, Rock, and Illinois rivers on the east, and 
the great muddy Missouri on the west, as well as on the 
Mississippi itself, to Kaskaskia. Here was a good place 
to collect hides and furs from the trappers and send 
them on to New Orleans. The Indians also found Kas- 
kaskia a convenient place to start from, on hunting or 
fighting expeditions. 

Fort Chartres Built. The Mississippi was fast be- 
coming the passage-way for the French going from 



72 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

Canada and the Great Lakes to the new settlements on 
the Gulf of Mexico. New Orleans was founded by them 
in 1718, and a small army was soon on its way to the 
Illinois to build a fort. Its w^alls were made first of 
wood, but later of limestone. They were two feet thick 
and sixteen feet high. This stone fort was thought to be 
the strongest in America. Fort Chartres, for so they 
named it, was the seat of the government of Illinois while 
the French ruled here. 

Other Villages Founded. Other settlements sprang 
up in this region. Hither came immigrants from Canada 
in large numbers, when they heard that the soil w^as very 
fertile, and the climate much milder than in their frigid 
settlements on the St. Lawrence. Some came also from 
New Orleans, but for another reason. They had heard 
that the climate of Illinois was cool, and the hunting and 
trapping good. 

How the French Lived. These early French settlers 
lived mainly by hunting. The plains were covered with 
buffalo, deer, and elk, while the forests abounded in 
game and wild fowl. During these early days Kaskaskia 
was the largest town west of the Alleghany Mountains. 
It was the center of social life and gayety. The latest 
fashions of New Orleans and Paris were copied here in 
the wilderness with great pride. The ballroom was the 
scene of much pleasure. There met the rich and poor, 
the old and young, to indulge in their favorite pastimes. 
The priest, too, came to look on. New Year's eve was the 
merriest event of all. The whole village assembled, each 
one bringing some refreshments, and gayly they danced 
the old year away. 

In the ballroom everything was well ordered. Two 
elderly persons were chosen provosts. It was their duty 



KASKASKIA UNDER FRANCE AND ENGLAND 73 

to select persons for the dance, one choosing the ladies 
and the other the men. Each one danced in proper turn, 
and no one was slighted. The provosts also decided upon 
the hour to retire and the time to meet again. In this 
manner, many winter nights were happily spent. 

French Dress. Blue was the favorite color in dress, 
^len wore coarse blue pantaloons in summer and buck- 
skin in winter. Hats were little used. Blue handker- 
chiefs appeared on the heads of both men and women 
instead. In w^inter was worn a cape of white, with a 
cap fastened behind. The cap rested upon the shoulders 
when the weather was warm. In cold weather it was 
drawn snugly over the head. Deer-skin moccasins were 
worn by both sexes indoors, and they were often neat 
as well as serviceable. Out of doors, the men wore on 
their feet a thick leather called by the Americans, "shoe 
packs." In those days a man scarcely thought himself 
properly clothed w^ithout a belt. Suspended to this, on 
one side was a tanned pole-cat skin bag containing a 
pipe and tobacco, and a flint and steel for use in starting 
a fire. On the other side hung the hunting knife. 

The French Till the Soil. While hunting and trap- 
ping were the main occupations, yet as the years passed, 
there came to be considerable agriculture. They raised 
Avheat, oats, and tobacco. Corn was grown, too, but 
mainly to fatten hogs. They often made hominy, but 
never corn bread. 

Their farming tools were rude and poor. The plows 
were of wood with a small piece of iron tied on with 
rawhide, to cut the soil. For a hundred years no wagon 
was seen in the prairie country. The French used carts 
with wheels of solid wood. There was no tire of iron. 
Neither oil nor grease was applied to the wheels, and 



74 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

their creaking could be heard a long distance away. 
There being no rocks or stones, these wooden wheels 
lasted well. The Americans called them "bare-footed 
carts." 

They had horses of Arabian breed introduced into 
America by the Spaniards. The harness for these was 
not made of tanned leather, for the French did not go 
to the trouble to tan for any purpose. Neat harness 
was made of rawhide, strong and tough. Horses were 
not driven abreast, but one before the other, tandem, 
we call it. They were never hitched to plows. The 
French used cattle for this labor. Oxen were yoked by 
the horns, rather than by the neck. The ox-yoke was a 
straight stick of wood, cut at the ends to fit the horns of 
the oxen to which it was tied w^ith thongs. It is said 
that these animals can draw as heavy a load with their 
heads as with their necks. 

The Beginning of Commerce. As time passed, a profit- 
able trade sprang up with the French settlements on the 
Gulf. Regular cargoes of flour, bacon, hides and tallow, 
of leather, lumber, wine, lead, and furs were transported 
in keel boats and barges to New Orleans, where was 
found an excellent market. On their homeward voyage, 
the boats brought such articles as sugar, rice, indigo, 
cotton, and manufactured tobacco. - The Frenchmen 
moved against the current by towing, sailing, and cordell- 
ing, which last consisted in pulling the boat up stream with 
a long rope, one end of which was tied to a tree, the 
other end in the hands of the men on board. The round 
trip often took four months. 

Their Government. So happy and contented were 
these French peasants that they got along well without 
any government. Neither did they pay any taxes, except 



KASKASKIA UNDER FRANCE AND ENGLAND 75 

the clues to the priest and to the fiddler. The priest held 
gentle sway over them. He settled all disputes among 
his flock, and from his decision there was no appeal ; yet 
he never abused his power. He was indeed, their gentle- 
shepherd. 

Rivalry Between England and France. We have seen 
how England and France vied with each other to get 
possession of North America; how France seized upon 
the St. Lawrence and Mississippi valleys, the two gate- 
ways to the heart of the continent, and how she set 
about defending it by a line of forts from the St. Law- 
rence to the Gulf of Mexico, leaving to England only a 
narrow strip along the Atlantic coast. 

England had no intention of stopping at the summit 
of the Alleghanies. Claiming the whole of the continent 
by virtue of its discovery by John Cabot, she gave to 
several colonies grants extending from sea to sea. English 
pioneers soon pushed through the mountain passes into 
the Ohio valley, only to be ordered out by the French. 
A series of wars broke out, lasting nearly a hundred 
years. At last, in 1763, France was forced to give up to 
England all land east of the Mississippi. 

A year later, England sent Captain Thomas Sterling 
from Fort Pitt, Pittsburg, with a hundred Highlanders 
to take possession of Fort Chartres and the Illinois coun- 
try. Descending the Ohio, he arrived at his destination 
in 1765. He immediately hauled down the ''Lilies of 
France" from the fort and ran up the Union Jack. The 
French in Illinois were highly displeased that England, 
their ancient enemy, should rule over their villages. They 
feared that the British, being a Protestant nation, would 
interfere with their religious worship, and they planned 
to emigrate across the Mississippi. But Captain Sterling 



76 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS " 

hastened to assure them that he had no intention of inter- 
fering with their worship. However, many did not like 
to live under the Cross of Saint George, and so moved 
to New Orleans or to St. Louis, where the French flag 
still floated, taking their slaves and their property with 
them. At least a third of the inhabitants left the Illinois 
country at this time. They soon learned, to their great 
disgust, that France had ceded all land west of the 
Mississippi to the Spaniards. 

The French Control the Fur Trade. The English tried 
very hard to make friends with the Indians, in order to 
control the rich fur trade of the prairies. But the French 
fur traders, who had moved across the Mississippi, were 
not willing to give up this profitable commerce if they 
could avoid it. The Indians naturally liked the French 
best because they had grown up together like children. The 
French had adopted Indian customs and manners, and 
had treated the savages like brothers. They often sup- 
plied them with food and joined in their war dances. 
Many Frenchmen even, took Indian women for their 
wives. Besides, they had, in a manner, taught the Indians 
to hate the British. So, it Avas an easy matter to persuade 
the red men to bring their peltries to St. Louis to sell. 
From here they were shipped to New Orleans. In this 
way the British were cheated out of the rich traffic. 

Early Fortifications. Fort Chartres was, for some 
reason, built on the river bottom about a mile from the 
banks of the Mississippi. Its limestone walls were proof 
against the attack of human enemies, but the ''Father of 
Waters" was not taken into account. The Mississippi 
gradually wore away the east bank and approached the 
fort until it undermined the defiant walls. The fort was 
abandoned and the government transferred to a new for- 



KASKASKIA UNDER FRANCE AND ENGLAND 77 

tress, named Fort Gage, opposite Kaskaskia. AYliat is 
left of the old fort is now on an island in the Mississippi, 
the channel having changed during a flood. 

Captain Sterling lived but a short time. After his 
death the British garrison became tired of their lonely 
life in the wilderness. They were disappointed, too, at 
not sharing richly in the fur trade. So they sailed off 
down the Mississippi never to return. Thus the govern- 
ment of the country again came into French hands, though 
it still was carried on in the name of George III. 

When the King of England saw war approaching with 
his American colonies, the entire country, northwest of 
the Ohio, was annexed to the province of Quebec. By 
this act George III. hoped to secure the aid of that prov- 
ince against the other English colonies. In case the 
colonies should win, this might save this great region 
to England. But, we shall see how George Rogers Clark 
upset this plan. 



CHAPTER VII 

COLONEL CLARK AT KASKASKIA 

The *' Hair-Buyer General." During the Revolution, 
when the thirteen colonies were fighting for their inde- 
pedence, the British had garrisons at Detroit, Kaskaskia 
and Vincennes. Governor Hamilton ruled over this en- 
tire region, with headquarters at Detroit. His instruc- 
tions were to hold this vast wilderness for King George 
III., and to stir up the Indians to make war on the Ameri- 
cans. He was called by the Americans the *' Hair-buyer 
General," because he paid the Indians for every scalp they 
brought in. With the aid of these savage butchers, Ham- 
ilton planned to drive the American frontiersmen back 
over the Alleghany Mountains. The savages, urged on 
by the British gold, massacred men, women and helpless 
children wherever they could find them. They made 
journeys of hundreds of miles for their bloody work. 
Sometimes they even crossed the Ohio River into Ken- 
tucky, spreading terror and destruction behind them. 
It was no uncommon thing for a frontier farmer, on re- 
turning home after a day's work, to find his log cabin 
in ashes and his wife and children murdered. 



COLONEL CLARK AT KASKASKIA 



79 



Plans of Colonel Clark. Among these sturdy fron- 
tier folk was an Indian fighter named George Rogers 
Clark, who had been appointed colonel to protect the 
western settlement. He was determined to punish the 
Indians, and was also bent on teaching Hamilton a lesson 
for setting on the heartless red men. His plan was to 
capture the British strongholds, put the wicked Hamilton 
in irons, and drive the Redcoats out of the entire North- 




CLARK'S ROUTE TO KASKASKIA. 



west. Educated in the frontier school of ''hard knocks," 
Clark was just the man for this undertaking. He could 
outwit the enemy every time, and he knew the Indians 
like a book. With a handful of men, he was able to pass 
through the forests and make the savages believe he had 
a great army. If anybody could drive the British out of 
the Northwest country, it was Clark. 



80 



THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 



It costs a great deal to equip and support an army, 
besides, the soldiers must be paid. Having no money! 
Clark set out for Williamsburg, the capitol of Vir- 
ginia, to lay his plans before Governor Patrick Henry 
and his Council, because Virgina claimed not only Ken- 
tucky, but all the territory north of the Ohio^ river, 
through a charter given her by the King in 1609. 

Governor Henry was well pleased with Clark's plan. 
But Virginia could not spare much money nor many 
soldiers, for every man was needed to fight the great 
British armies along the Atlantic coast. Governor 
Henry, however, did the best he could. He commissioned 
Clark to raise seven companies of fifty men each among 
the frontier settlements, to serve three months. The 
Governor furnished the guns and ammunition, as well as 
the boats to take the army from Pittsburg down the 
Ohio. Clark was given six thousand dollars in paper 
money to pay his soldiers, each of whom was to have, 
in addition, three hundred acres of land, if they drove 
out the Redcoats. 

In order to succeed with this small army, Clark knew 
he would have to cake the British by surprise. For fear 
his purpose might be reported to Hamilton, he kept his 
plans a profound secret. Not a man in his army knew 
where they were to be led. They supposed that the In- 
dians alone were to be punished. 

Clark was popular wherever he was known, and the 
sharpshooters and trappers of the mountain valleys 
gladly joined his band, although they knew the campaign 
against the Indians would be a hard one. But he was 
unable to muster more than four companies, because 
many frontiersmen feared to go far away to fight, and 
leave their own homes unprotected. 



COLONEL (^LARK AT KASKASKIA 81 

The Expedition Leaves Pittsburg. After some delay, 
Colonel Clark embarked at Pittsburg with two hundred 
men, and floated down the Ohio. As they went day after 
day with no Indians in sight, nothing but the wilderness 
about them, the soldiers began to complain because they 
were already so far away from their families. When 
they reached Corn Island in the rapids of the Ohio, op- 
posite where Louisville now stands, some of the dissatis- 
fied soldiers threatened to desert, so Clark decided to 
land. He built a block house on the island to protect his 
supplies, and planted a crop of Indian corn. Some time 
was spent in drilling his men. They were not in uniform, 
but wore the hunting shirt, leggings and moccasins of the 
backwoodsman. They were armed with long, heavy, 
flintlock rifles, and carried hatchets and long knives in 
their belts. A powder horn hung at one side and a game 
bag at the other. The head was covered with a squir- 
rel-skin or fox-skin cap, with the tail dangling behind. 

Clark Makes Known the Secret. Clark now told his 
soldiers that he was going to lead them against the Red- 
coats at Kaskaskia. Most of them were delighted. They 
were ready to follow their brave leader anywiiere. 
Some, however, objected to the long journey and wished 
to return home. As Clark needed every man, he refused 
to let them go. At night they slipped by the guards, 
waded to the Kentucky shore and took to the woods. 
Some were captured the next morning and brought back, 
but most of the deserters made good their escape. This 
left Clark but a small band to do the great Avork he had 
set before him. The British w^ere in strong forts. 
Thousands of savages were aiding them. Besides, there 
were hundreds of French allies. Against such an enemy, 
Clark was marching with but one hundred fifty-three 



82 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

men, and with no cannon. But nothing seemed too hard 
for this brave soldier. Had he not often beaten a whole 
tribe of Indians with a few followers? 

Clark Divides His Forces. Leaving a few men on 
Corn Island to protect his supplies and raise a crop, 
Clark embarked with the others and passed down the' 
Ohio to the mouth of the Tennessee, where he met a party 
of hunters from Kaskaskia. He made friends with them 
at once and obtained from them valuable information. 
They told him who was the commander of Fort Gage at 
Kaskaskia. They said the fort was strong and the gar- 
rison well drilled, and that the commander was on the 
lookout for enemies who might be coming up the Miss- 
issippi to attack his fort. Before leaving Corn Island 
Clark received a letter from home stating that the King 
of France had recently joined forces with the Americans 
against the haughty British. This good news he thought 
could be used when he met the French in Illinois The 
hunters told Clark that the British had led the French at 
Kaskaskia to believe Yhat the ''Long Knives," as they 
called the frontiersmen, were more savage than the In- 
dians, or even -annibals. This bit of news Clark also 
planned to use when he met the enemy.. 

He Changes His Plans. It seemed as clear as day- 
light to Clark, that he could not take Kaskaskia except 
by surprise. When informed by the hunters that the 
British had scouts out on the Mississippi, he concluded to 
change his route. He planned to leave the river and 
march straight across the country to Kaskaskia, and take 
the British unawares, for they would hardly dream 
of any enemy coming through the pathless wilderness 
when the Ohio and Mississippi rivers offered an easy 
route to the same place. 



COLONEL CLARK AT KASKASKIA 83 

The distance overland was one hundred twenty miles, 
and a most difficult journey for an army without wagons 
and provisions, but it was his only chance to surprise 
the enemy. Securing one of the hunters to guide his 
band, he set out through the forest. The guide once lost 
the way, and the men were about to shoot him for treach- 
ery, when he again discovered the trail. At last after 
much hardship, he brought Clark's little company in 
sight of Kaskaskia and Fort Gage, on the Fourth of July, 
1778. Colonel Clark concealed his men until dark and 
sent scouts to reconnoitre and bring back a report. They 
returned with the good new^s that all was quiet, and that 
the British and French were behaving as though there 
were no enemy within a thousand miles. When night 
came, Colonel Clark advanced to a house close to the vil- 
lage. He decided to strike both the fort and the vil- 
lage at the same time. So he divided his band — it could 
hardly be called an army. He sent one party under the 
fearless Captain Helm to capture the village, while he, 
at the same time, led the others against the fort. Before 
advancing to battle Colonel Clark gave a short address 
to his soldiers. He said: ''Soldiers! "We are near the 
enemy for which we have been struggling for years. 
We are not fighting alone for liberty and independence, 
but for the defense of our own frontiers from the toma- 
hawk and scalping-knife of the Indians. We are defend- 
ing the lives of our own women and children, although a 
long distance from them. These British garrisons fur- 
nish the Indians wdtli powder and lead to desolate the 
frontiers; and pay gold for human scalps. AVe must 
take and destroy these garrisons. The fort before us 
is one of them, and it must be taken. We can not re- 
treat. We have no provisions; but we must conquer. 



84 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

This is the Fourth of July. We must act to honor it; 
and let it not be said in after times that Virginians were 
defeated on that memorable day. The fort and town, I 
repeat, must be taken at all hazards." 

The Town and Fort Captured. The troops then 
separated, Captain Helm advancing on the town. His 
men entered the village in silence, and no one dreamed of 
the presence of the dreadful ''Long Knives" in their 
midst. Suddenly Helm's men set up such a terrific howl- 
ing and yelling that the inhabitants were frightened al- 
most out of their senses. They now felt sure these 
''Long Knives" were demons, and they prepared for the 
worst. Helm's men told them to remain quietly in their 
houses and they would not be hurt, but if they came out 
or showed resistance they would be eaten alive. The 
poor French believed it, too, for not a man of them 
showed himself. Two hours later they gave up all their 
arms, thinking this the onlj^ way of saving themselves 
from a frightful death. So, without firing a gun, or so 
much as injuring a single hair of a Frenchman's head, 
Captain Helm had captured the village of Kaskaskia and 
run up the stars and stripes. 

While this was taking place, Colonel Clark was under- 
taking the more dangerous task of capturing a strong 
British fort defended by well-trained soldiers with can- 
non. Having no heavy guns, Clark had to rely on his 
wits. His band advanced very quietly. A pack of dogs 
soon set up a loud barking. But even this did not dis- 
turb the deep slumber of the Redcoats. Clark's men 
entered a small back gate and took possession of the fort 
l)efore anybody knew that an enemy was near. They en- 
tered the commanding officer's chamber, and had some 
difficulty in arousing him sufficiently to inform him that 



COLONEL CLARK AT KxVSKASKlA 85 

he was their prisoner of war. He was furious to think 
he had been surprised and that his fort, strongly pro- 
teeted with cannon and manned by regulars, had surren- 
dered to a beggarly handful of backwoodsmen. He 
became so insolent that Clark, as a lesson to others, put 
him in chains and sent him to Virginia. 

The Captives Are Well Treated. The next day the 
"Long Knives" tried to live up to what the French be- 
lieved them to be, the most bloodthirsty creatures on 
earth. They did not hurt anybody, but they made the 
French think that their last days had come. Having 
had no opportunity to shave for months, and no change 
of clothing, their ragged, half -naked appearance struck 
terror to the hearts of the simple French, who now pre- 
pared for the worst tortures imaginable. The priest and 
a few leading citizens waited upon Colonel Clark, begging 
him to permit the inhabitants of Kaskaskia to meet in 
the church once more before they were put to death or 
shipped, like the Acadians, to a foreign land. Clark noAV 
thought he had worked them up to the highest pitch of 
terror, so he addressed them in these words : ' ' Do you 
mistake us for savages? Do you think Americans will 
strip women and children and take bread out of their 
mouths? My country disdains to make war on innocence. 
To prevent the horrors of Indian butchery on our wives 
and children, we have taken up arms and penetrated to 
this stronghold of Indian and British barbarity, and not 
for despicable plunder. The King of France has united 
his powerful arms with those of the American colonists, 
and the war will soon be ended. The people of Kaskaskia 
may side with either party. To verify my words, go 
tell your people to do as they please, without any danger 
from me." 



86 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

This good news was so unexpected that the French 
went wild with joy. They entered the church to render 
thanks to God for their deliverance from the jaws of 
death. With all speed they hastened to swear friendship 
to Clark. They promised to help him drive out the 
British, with whom they had never been very friendly. 
This was just as Clark would have it, for he needed the 
help of the French in order to hold this vast region, since 
his soldiers were so few. Then the people of Kaskaskia 
persuaded their neighbors of Cahokia to receive the 
Americans without resistance. Thus another town came 
into Clark's hands without bloodshed. This great fighter 
always used his head to win victories, and in this way 
he saved the lives of his soldiers. 

He Strengthens His Position. Clark soon made 
friends with the Spanish commandant at St. Louis. The 
numerous Indian tribes were at a loss to know what to 
do. They saw both the French and Spanish espousing 
the American cause against the British. They asked 
some French fur traders which side they had better take, 
and being advised to seek friendship with Clark, they 
offered the peace pipe. 

At a grand council at Cahokia, he met the chiefs of 
many tribes who had come to make war on him. There 
were squatted about him and his trusty ''Long Knives," 
chiefs of the Chippewas, Ottawas, Pottawatomies, Winne- 
bagoes, Sacs and Foxes, Osages, lowas, and Miamis. 
Clark's tact in winning them was superb. He impressed 
them so favorably that thousands of braves made a peace 
which they never broke while he ruled this region. 

Having now served the full three months for which 
they enlisted, Clark's soldiers clamored to be mustered 
out and sent home. What could he do? He knew the 



COLONEL CLARK AT KASKASKIA 87 

country ought to be held until peace was made, yet he had 
no right to keep the soldiers who had served out their 
time. A hundred having agreed to stay, Clark organized 
a new company. With these and what help he could get 
from the French and Indians, he vowed he would hold 
the land he had captured. 



CHAPTER Vm 
CLARK CAPTURES VINCENNES 

Captain Helm Sent to Vincennes. Hearing that there 
were no British soldiers in the fort at Vincennes, but that 
It was manned by a few French, Father Gibault, the vil- 
lage priest of Kaskaskia, undertook to bring the people oi 
Vmeennes over to the American side. He succeeded, and 
Clark sent Captain Helm with a few French recruits to 
take possession of that town and fort. Helm, like Clark, 
knew well how to manage the red men. He tactfully 
won all the Indians of the AYabash country to his side 

Governor Hamilton Takes the Field. ' Hamilton still 
m command of Detroit, was chagrined at the loss of Vin- 
cennes. He set about regaining both that city and Kas- 
kaskia. With this in view, he gathered together a large 
army of Canadians and Indians, and embarked on Lake 
Erie for the Wabash country. They paddled up the 
Maumee River, crossed the portage of nine miles with 
great labor, and floated down a tributary of the Wabash 
toward Vincennes. 

Upon hearing of their approach, the French recruits 
under Captain Helm deserted him, and he was left with 
one lone man to hold the fort. When Governor Hamil- 
ton approached with an army of five hundred warriors 
and Canadians, he found a loaded cannon pointing out of 
the open gate of the fort, and Captain Helm standing by, 
with a lighted match in hand ready to fire. ''Halt'' 



CLARK CAPTUKP^S VINCENNES 



89 



called out Helm in a loud voice. Hamilton demanded the 
immediate surrender of the garrison. Helm replied with 
an oath: "No man shall enter here until I know the 
terms." Hamilton, supposing there was a strong gar- 
rison, answered, "You shall have the honors of war." 
Helm then surrendered, and his garrison consisting of 
himself and one private, marched out and laid down 
their arms. They had forced the honors of war from an 
army of five hundred, to the great disgust of Governor 
Hamilton. 







SECURING THE HONORS OF WAR 



The winter coming on, Hamilton concluded to post- 
pone his attack on Kaskaskin until spring, because with 
the river frozen, it would be almost impossible to transport 



90 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

his heavy cannon and baggage through the pathless for- 
ests. He sent most of his Indian allies home, to return 
in the spring, when he purposed, with a thousand In- 
dians and several hundred Canadians, to capture Kas- 
kaskia and carry the war to the frontier towns of Ken- 
tucky. Knowing how few were Clark's soldiers, he felt 
sure of taking them with ease, but Hamilton did not 
know that Clark alone was equal to a host. Had he 
pushed on at once he would no doubt have made short 
work of Clark's little company. 

Clark in Difficulty. When news of the taking of 
Vincennes reached our Indian fighter at Kaskaskia, 
he was in hard straits. The Indians and French, who 
now feared the British, began to weaver in their loyalty 
to him. The Kaskaskians washed to be neutral, but Clark 
would not listen. He threatened to burn their town if 
they refused to support him. At this, they assured him 
of their help. 

He saw, that if he waited till spring, the British would 
come with a large army and his allies would desert to 
them, and he would be crushed or driven across the 
Mississippi. He said, ''If I do not take him, he will take 
me." So, hearing that Hamilton had retained only a 
small garrison, he planned to attack Vincennes before the 
Indian army returned. ''It w^as at this moment," he de- 
clared, "I would have bound myself seven years a slave 
to have had five hundred troops." The best he could do 
was to muster one hundred seventy men — Americans, 
French, and Indians. Again he depended largely on find- 
ing the enemy unprepared. In order to do this, he could 
not take the route on the Ohio and Wabash rivers, for 
these were being watched. It w^as two hundred thirty 
miles overland to Vincennes. It would have been an 



CLARK CAPTURES VINCENNES 



91 



easy journey in summer, perhaps, or even in the dead 
of winter, when the streams were ice-bound and the 
prairies frozen, but Clark started in February, when the 
ice was breaking up, and the small streams, swollen to 
rivers, were spread out over the valleys. The ground was 
soft and progress was slow. Floods had driven away much 
of the game, and it was with great difficulty that enough 
food could be procured to keep them from starving. 
Each day one company would scatter in search of game 




CLARK'S MARCH TO VINCENNES. 

and, at night, invite the rest of the army to feast. Here 
the ever-present French fiddle helped revive the droop- 
ing spirits of the men. At the end of a week, they ar- 
rived at the ''drowned lands" of the Wabash. From here 
to Vincennes the country was flooded, the water being 
from three to five feet deep. It rained nearly half the 
time, but they never halted on this account. 



92 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

They Reach Vincennes. They could now hear the 
morning and evening guns at the fort. Weak with 
hunger, with ten miles of water between them and the 
enemy, the little army was in deep gloom. They had 
no boats. The game had disappeared, and they dared 
not shoot for fear of being discovered. Often they waded 
in water up to the armpits, and camped at night, wet 
to the skin, without food or fire. Two days having 
passed without a mouthful of food, it now became neces- 
sary to help along those weak from hunger. At noon of 
the following day, a canoe with five Frenchmen from the 
village came upon them, who told Clark that Hamilton 
had no suspicion of their presence, and that the French 
in Vincennes were kindly disposed toward them. This, 
together with the killing of a deer, gave the little army 
new courage. 

Placing the weak and famished in canoes, they again 
plunged into the flooded valley, wading and holding their 
^uns above the water. In places the pack horses had 
to swim, while their loads were transported on rafts. 
At best, they could advance but two or three miles a day. 
At last they reached dry ground a short distance from 
the village, where the half-starved soldiers soon forgot 
their suffering. Colonel Clark, in order to appear strong 
and confident, sent the following letter to the people of 
Vincennes : 

"To the Inhabitants of Post Vincennes: 

Gentlemen: — Being now within two miles of your village with 
my army, determined to take your fort this night, and not being 
willing to surprise you, I take this method to request such of you as 
are true citizens, and willing to enjoy the liberty I bring you, to re- 
main still in your houses. And those, if any there be, that are friends 
to the king, will instantly repair to the fort and join the "Hairbuyer 
General," and fight like men. And if any such as do not go to the 



CLARK (VVPTURES VTNrp]NNES 93 

fort, shall be discovered afterwards, they may depend on severe 
punishment. On the contrary, those who are true friends to liberty, 
may depend on being well treated. And I once more request them 
to keep out of the streets: for everyone I find in arms on my arrival, 
I shall treat as an enemy. G. R. Clark." 

To the frightened people of Vincennes, Clark's army 
seemed to have come up suddenly out of the swamp, for 
they thought no human beings could have marched 
through such a drowned country. While the village 
assembled in the public square to hear the letter from 
Colonel Clark, his army could be seen maneuvering some 
distance awaj^, but it was not visible to the fort. In or- 
der to deceive the villagers as to his numbers, Clark 
marched his troops around a grove several times under 
different colors. From the different colored banners, the 
French thought the Americans were at least a thousand 
strong. 

The Indians wishing to be on the victorious side, and 
being unable to judge Avho would win, drew off and re- 
mained neutral. In the excitement in the town, no one 
had enough presence of mind to carry the news to the 
fort. Again the army was arranged in two divisions, 
one under Bowman to attack the town, and the other un- 
der Clark to capture the fort. 

The Fort Is Attacked and Captured. As Bowman 
marched into Vincennes at dark, the people immediately 
joined him. A hundred Indians also swelled the num- 
bers as they passed on toward the fort. Not a word had 
yet reached Hamilton and his garrison. The first firing 
he mistook for that of drunken Indians. Looking out in- 
to the moonlight, the astonished Governor saw his stock- 
ade surrounded by backwoodsmen and a battle going on. 

Having no cannon, the American hero relied upon his 
sharpshooters who poured such a hot fire through the 



94 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

port holes that the gunners could not hold their posts. 
The firing continued through the night. Morning found 
the garrison badly crippled, but not yet willing to sur- 
render. 

A party of British and Indians who had gone out some 
days before, now came noisily into town with their 
scalps and prisoners for Hamilton. Before they realized 
the changed condition, Clark's men set upon them and 
killed or captured the entire party. Six who were cap- 
tured were tomahawked in sight of the fort and thrown 
into the river. This frightened the Indians outside the 
stockade, as well as the garrison within. Hamilton now 
surrendered his force of eighty men, and Clark ran up 
the stars and stripes over the fort, re-naming it Fort 
Patrick Henry. Hamilton was sent to Virginia in irons. 

Capt. Helm, now released, hearing of some reinforce- 
ments on the way from Detroit to join the British, sur- 
prised and captured the entire band with their supplies, 
valued at fifty thousand dollars. This plunder was di- 
vided among the '^Long Knives." Virginia, in after 
years, gave them a hundred and fifty thousand acres of 
land as a reward for their brilliant campaign. 

Clark held this country until the close of the Revolu- 
tion, when England ceded it to the United States. But 
for George Rogers Clark's heroic deeds and the terrible 
suffering of his followers, this great Northwest would 
probably have remained in British hands. 



CHAPTER IX 
EARLY DAYS IN ILLINOIS 

Real Settlement of Illinois Begins. At the close of 
Clark's campaign, many of his soldiers returned home 
and spread among their neighbors and kinsmen of Vir- 
ginia and Maryland glowing accounts of the beauty and 
fertility of the Illinois country. They declared it to l)e 
a land of high promise, and when the war was over, many 
of these soldiers came back to settle, bringing their 
families with them. 

The Hunter-Pioneers. But, while a few of the early 
American settlers were from the eastern states, southern 
Illinois was first occupied mainly by the hunter-pioneers 
of Kentuck}^ and Tennessee, most of whom had seen serv- 
ice in the Indian wars, and were accustomed to the 
rough life of the frontier. The Ohio and the Mississippi 
were the routes by which these backwoodsmen entered 
the state. They gradually chopped their way northward 
along the wooded banks of the Illinois river and other 
streams, not venturing out on the open prairie. 

They seized upon the hardwood forests bordering 
the rivers, in order to have fuel and logs with which to 
build the cabin and fence the ''corn patch." The timber 
also served as a wind-break in winter, protecting the 
cabin and the few domestic animals, and in summer it 



96 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

afforded shelter from the swarms of flies infesting the 
prairies. Then, too, the river furnished the needed water 
supply for home use and for the stock. 

These early pioneers lived mainly by hunting. They 
loved the simple frontier life, and when other settlers 
began to approach their lonely cabins, they moved 
farther into the wilderness. The crack of their rifles told 
heavily upon the large game, such as the buffalo, elk, 
and deer, which gradually grew scarcer, until by 1800, 
the shaggy buffalo had disappeared forever from the 
prairies of Illinois. 

The Woodland-Pioneer. Close upon the heels of the 
hunter-pioneer, came the woodland-pioneer, who, being 
unable on account of the scarcity of game to bring down 
enough for his needs, was forced to lay aside his rifle 
and seize the ax and the plow, and to depend mainly upon 
the crops he raised to support his family. He, too, clung 
to the woodlands, preferring to clear the land of trees to 
breaking the prairie sod. The trees upon the open prairie 
were so scarce and stunted that these early settlers con- 
cluded the soil was too poor to grow them, so they called 
the treeless prairies the ''barrens." They blindly passed 
by some of the finest farm lands in the world, until every 
acre of the woodland was taken, even though some of 
it was so low and swampy as to require draining. These 
marshy lands were very unhealthful, and the settlers suf- 
fered much from fever and ague. In places, running 
water was scarce in summer, and wells had to be dug 
to water the stock. Reports were noised abroad that the 
Illinois country was full of dreadful diseases, and this 
turned some away. 

Wave of Immigration Widens. As the years went by 
the westward home-seekers grew in numbers. They 



EARLY DAYS IN ILLINOIS 97 

toiled through the mountain passes of the AUeghanies to 
some tributary of the Ohio. In 1810, emigrants from Vir- 
ginia, Kentucky, North Carolina and Tennessee were 
pouring into Illinois. Day after day the ferries on the 
Ohio, at Shawneetown, were crowded with passing fam- 
ilies with their negroes, wagons, carts and carriages. 

The National Turnpike. When Ohio was admitted 
as a state, 1808, Congress promised to take part of the 
money received from the sale of public lands and with 
it build a hard wagon road across the AUeghanies. This 
promise was kept, and by the time Illinois became a state, 
1818, this great national road had been built from the 
headwaters of the Potomac, at Cumberland, I\Iaryland, 
to AVheeling on the Ohio. In this way the long toilsome 
journey over the AUeghanies was made easier. 

Down the Ohio. Once the Ohio was reached, a raft, 
a keel boat, or an ark was built, and provisions laid in 
for the long journey. Pittsburg was the great supply 
city for rafts and flatboats on the Ohio. For seven months 
of the year, the streets of this frontier city were crowded 
with emigrants arriving and departing, and its water- 
front was fringed with boats of every description. Boat- 
building was the chief industry, and, as none of these 
early boats ever came back, the business never flagged. 

The poorer emigrant tied some logs together and 
made a raft on which he placed his family, tools and live 
stock, and pushed out into the current. Several of these 
rafts were sometimes hitched together. Keel boats were 
built with a view of protection from the Indians, as well 
as for carrying great loads. The upper work was of 
wood with loopholes. They often carried several families. 
Three hands were necessary to man them, one to pilot 
and two to row. Occasionally there were side wheels 



98 



THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 



kept in motion by horses walking in a treadmill. One 
such boat carried eighteen persons, horses, cattle, hogs, 
geese, ducks, and farming tools, from wagons to hoes, 
besides household furniture and a year's stock of provi- 
sions. The trip to Shawneetown lasted three or four 
weeks. Similar boats came down all the tributaries of the 
Ohio, and drifted slowly towards the west, with unbroken 
forests stretching about them in all directions. 




FLATBOATS ON THE OHIO 



"All day long flocks of turkeys littered the trees over- 
head, and at times a bear or elk might be seen swimming 
the river. At night the woods on every hand resounded 
with the bark of wolves. Then it was that the lonely 
emigrants were tormented with all manner of fears." 
They dreaded to go on at night for fear of being wrecked 



EARLY DAYS IN ILLINOIS 99 

or stranded on sand bars, and they hesitated to tie fast to 
the bank because of lurking Indians. They usually spent 
the night moored to the shore, with a sentinel standing 
ready to cut the ropes if an enemy were sighted while 
the others slept. 

Some of these boats stopped at Shawneetown and 
were sold, while others floated on to the mouth of the Ohio, 
and from there were pushed by long poles to St. Louis, 
where they were sold or exchanged for wagons. Over 
these wagons, was spread a canvas, and tar was smeared 
on the outside to make it waterproof. After a visit to 
the land office, the emigrants were off to locate their 
quarter sections. 

The woodlands of southern Illinois were soon taken 
up, and newcomers had the choice of making their homes 
on the open prairies or moving farther west. The north- 
w^ard advance was checked by the Black Hawk war, in 
1832, which drove the people in from the outlying settle- 
ments to the more thickly populated section. 

Home Building. The early pioneer, after choosing a 
site in the wilderness for his home, set to work to build 
a log cabin. With his own ax he cut down the forest 
trees and built first the open camp, the corners of which 
were notched together. The roof, of thatch or bark, was 
supported on poles. The open side served for window, 
door and fireplace. Skins were often hung up to keep 
out the storm. In his boyhood days Abraham Lincoln 
lived in such a cabin. 

Everybody, whether invited or not, went to the rais- 
ing of the log cabin. The heavy lifting called for many 
hands. While four men notched the logs, the others ran 
races, wrestled and played leap frog, kicked the hat, and 
did everything then considered an amusement. Usually 



lUO 



THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 



it was put up in a day, and the family moved in that 
night, after having lived in camp during the weeks while 
the logs were being cut in the clearing. 

Clapboards were split out for roofing and weighted 
down with stones. There were no nails, hinges, locks, 
nor glass in those early forest cabins. Doors were hung 
on wooden hinges or straps of hide, and the latch string 
was always out. The cracks between the logs were 




BUILDING A HOME IN THE WILDERNESS 



"chinked" in with wedges of wood and clay. Some 
cabins even had no ''chinking." In a certain part of 
the country a ''settler while sleeping, was scratched on 
the head by the sharp teeth of a hungry wolf, which thrust 
his nose into the space between the logs of the cabin." 
The floor was often the bare ground, but cabins some- 



EARLY DAYS IN ILLINOIS 



101 



times had the luxury of puncheon floors. These were 
made of tlie halves of logs, the flat sides of which had 
been hewed smooth with an adz. One early settler's wife 
pleaded to have the cabin built around a splendid flat 
stump, w^hieh served as a dining table. A small plat- 
form along the wall, two feet high and supported by 
posts, formed a bedstead. The bed consisted of the 
boughs of trees, sometimes of the skins of animals. The 
chimneys were made of logs coated with mud six inches 
thick. The fireplaces were vast in size, often so big that 




IN THE OLDEN TIMES 



the fore-logs and the back-logs for the fire had to be 
dragged in by a horse. These, except in the coldest 
weather would burn for several days. The home-made 



102 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

furniture was of the rudest pattern. Here and there 
were a few pewter spoons, dishes, and iron knives and 
forks. 

How They Obtained and Prepared Their Food. Their 
food consisted of corn bread, bacon, bear and deer meat, 
and other wild game and fowl, as well as vegetables, 
which they called ''roughness." Bear meat was a deli- 
cacy in the fall. It is said to be as good as venison. 
Salted down, it became an important item of the winter's 
supplies. Sometimes a hunting party would return with 
the carcasses of thirty or forty of these beasts. A single 
sportsman often killed as many as a half dozen deer in 
one day's hunt. To approach a deer on the prairie, the 
hunter crawled on the ground, holding a green bush 
before him, stopping when the animal showed signs of 
becoming alarmed. 

Of corn, they made many dishes. There were pone, 
hominy, samp, ''roasting ears," popcorn, and succotash. 
Besides, there w^ere pumpkin, squash, beans and dairy 
dishes. Mills were so few and far apart that remote set- 
tlers often had to go fifty miles on horse-back, with a bag 
of corn, a journey of from two to four days. The build- 
ing of a mill was hailed with more satisfaction than that 
of a church. When the mill was too far away, or could 
not be run because of low water, they pounded the corn 
into coarse meal in mortars. Sometimes the stump of a 
tree was hollowed out for this purpose, and a block of 
wood shaped to fit in it. 

The bread was, for a time, baked on "johnny," or 
journey, boards, which gave it the name of johnny-cake. 
These boards were smooth, two feet long by eight inches 
wide. Corn meal was mixed with water, the dough 
spread out on the board and then turned up to the fire. 



EARLY DAYS IN ILLINOIS 103 

After one side was baked, the dough was turned and 
baked on the other side. 

Clothing; Books; Money. Clothing was made of 
dressed skins of the deer, wolf, or fox, while buffalo and 
elk skins were made into caps and moccasins. There were 
neither books nor libraries, schools nor churches. Arith- 
metic was studied a little in the evening by the light of 
a tallow dip. Sunday was spent in hunting, fishing, get- 
ting up stock, gathering wild honey from hollow tree 
trunks, breaking young horses, shooting at marks, and 
in foot racing and horse racing; but no labor was done 
on that day. Peltries and furs were used as money. Deer 
skins passed from hand to hand at the value of three 
pounds to the dollar. Raccoons and muskrats were 
numerous, and their skins in great demand. 

Amusements. A favorite form of merry-making was 
the ''shucking bee." To these festivities gathered both 
old and young, for miles around. Sides were chosen, and 
equal piles of corn in the husk placed before them. Those 
who had made records as the best corn buskers w^ere 
made captains, and the contest was on. Whichever party 
first finished husking its pile was the winner. The lucky 
finder of a red ear was entitled to a kiss from the girls. 

After they had feasted upon the fat of the land, came 
the dance. The only music was the violin, and ''fiddlers" 
were in great demand. "They often danced all night 
and went home with the girls in the morning," some on 
foot, some on horseback, the only mode of conveyance. 

At weddings, there was the run for the bottle. A 
bottle was filled with whisky and decorated with ribbons. 
The judges held this at the end of a mile course, and all 
who had pride in their fast horses, entered the race. 

There had been introduced a fine blooded horse, noted 



104 



THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 



as a racer. Soon there were many fast horses in the 
settlements. Horse races became common. Everybody 
talked about them and went to see them. At these races, 
business was transacted, horses swapped, and delfts paid. 
They had foot races, wrestling, jumping* and shooting 
matches here. Small kegs of whisky were brought to 
the races on horseback, a keg in one end of the sack and 
a stone in the other, thrown across the saddle. Notwith- 
standing the boisterous nature of these gatherings, they 
were a means of education to the people, both morally and 
socially. 




IMMIGRANTS ON THE NATIONAL ROAD 



After 1800, game of all kind became scarcer, and the 
people began more and more to depend upon farming. 
Wheat was cut with sickles or reap hooks, and threshed 
by being trod upon by horses. Cotton Avas raised, and 



EAELY DAYS IN ILLINOIS 105 

for years it was believed that this crop would thrive here. 
In later years flax Avas raised and made into clothing. 

The great draw])aek to farming was the want of a 
market for the produce. It was a long distance to town, 
and when they arrived there they found no demand for 
the produce they had brought. To reach the cities on 
the Atlantic coast by overland route was out of the ques- 
tion. Some trade in tobacco, flour and live stock, sprang 
up with New Orleans. 

When these pioneers did go to town, which was sel- 
dom, they would often see for the first time, improved 
articles for the house or farm. For these they exchanged 
vegetables, grain or live stock. A farmer having seen 
for the first time, in the Black Hawk war, a team of 
horses driven abreast, sent for a set of double harness; 
but when they arrived he found himself totally unable 
to fit them to the horses, and had to send a long distance 
for a man Avho knew how to put the harness, horses and 
wagon together properly. 



CHAPTER X 
BOUNDARIES AND TERRITORIAL DAYS 

States Give Up Their Western Claims. By the treaty 
at the close of the Revolution, 1783, the Mississippi be- 
came the western boundary of the United States. Now, 
Virginia claimed all the territory northwest of the Ohio, 
as we have seen, not only because of her old charter, but 
because she had sent an army under George Rogers Clark 
who drove the British out of it. Other colonies also 
claimed portions of the territory west of the Alleghanies. 

But, after our independence was won, the small states 
such as Delaware, Maryland and New Jerse}^ which had 
no western claims, refused to join with the larger states 
under one roof and one flag unless these larger states 
gave to the government their claims of vi^estern territory. 
The small states were stubborn about this, and finally the 
large states yielded, with the understanding that this 
Avestern territory be divided into states and admitted 
into the Union on the same basis as the thirteen original 
states. 

The Northwest Territory Divided Into States. Thom- 
as Jefferson suggested that the territory northwest of the 
Ohio might be divided by parallels and meridians into 
ten states. James Monroe thought that ten would be too 



BOUNDARIES AND TERRITORIAL DAYS 107 

many. He had made a short trip to the West and talked 
with many people on the journey. IMonroe came to be- 
lieve, from what he had heard, that much of the western 



LVA.NC,. A ^^ 





METRGPOTAMIA 



SARATOGA. 




JEFFERSON'S PLAN 1784 



STATES PROPOSED BY JEFFERSON 

land was miserably poor, and that the plains of what is 
now Illinois were a desert. "Not so much as a bush 
w^ould grow on it," he said, ''and to cut such a region in- 



108 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS. 

to ten states by straight lines would be unwise." Some 
states would, he argued, be all poor land, some all rich 
land. Some would have no frontage on the lakes, while 
others would not touch the Ohio. Monroe and Washington, 
therefore, advised Congress to so divide the territory that 
each state might have as much water boundary as 
possible. This Avas the wiser plan, and Congress followed 
it. As for names. Congress concluded to let the sections 
choose their own, when they came into the Union. 

So, when the Ordinance of 1787 was adopted, it de- 
clared that there should be not fewer than three, nor 
more than five states in this territory, and that their 
boundaries should be as shown on page 109. The Or- 
dinance stated that this solemn agreement among all the 
thirteen states should ''forever remain unalterable, unless 
by common consent." In spite of this, not one of the 
five states came into the L^nion with the exact boundaries 
fixed by the Ordinance. Congress changed the boundaries 
at pleasure, without asking the consent of a single state. 
The whole NorthAvest territory was governed as a unit 
until 1809, when Indiana was set apart, leaving Illinois 
and Wisconsin together under the name of Illinois Terri- 
tory. 

Illinois Admitted As a State; Boundaries. When Il- 
linois became a state in 1818, the northern boundary was 
fixed, not by a line running west from the extreme south- 
ern end of Lake Michigan, as prescribed in the Ordinance, 
but by a parallel sixty-one miles farther north. Nor did 
Congress even ask the people of Wisconsin to consent to 
this encroachment on her soil. Nathaniel Pope was, at 
that time, the delegate in Congress for Illinois Territory. 
He laid before that body these reasons for placing the 
Illinois boundarv sixtv-one miles on Wisconsin soil. He 



BOUNDARIES AND TERRITORIAL DAYS 109 

said that Illinois would not have any lake frontage, if the 
Ordinance were followed, and, if she were not given a 
lake port, she would face southward and her commerce 




THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY, AS DIVIDED BY THE 

ORDINANCE OF 1787 

and interests would be with the slave states rather than 

with the free. ''Then," he said, ''if the Union is ever 

broken up, Illinois will go with the South." The only way 



110 



THE STORY OF ILLINOIS. 



to prevent such a catastrophe," he declared, ''was to give 
Illinois an outlet on Lake Michigan, and thereby connect 




MAP OF THE DISPUTED TERRITORY 



her with the commerce of the Great Lakes and the East. 
Pope convinced Congress of the wisdom of his position, 
and so won for the Prairie State a wide strip of country 



BOUNDARIES AND TERRITORIAL DAYS 11 1 

embracing fourteen counties, and eight thousand, five 
hundred square miles of rich agricultural lands, which in- 
cludes the fine lake harbors of Chicago and Waukegan, 
as well as the site of such prosperous inland cities as 
Rockford, Freeport, Galena, Oregon and Elgin. 

Northern Illinois Claimed by Wisconsin. Wisconsin 
was organized as a territory in 1836, and the northern 
boundary of Illinois was left where it had been placed in 
1818. Two years later, however, the Wisconsin Legisla- 
ture sent a message to Congress protesting against the in- 
justice of giving to Illinois a vast section which accord- 
ing to the Ordinance, rightly belonged to Wisconsin. 
She claimed the entire tract as far south as the southern 
end of Lake Michigan. Congress, influenced by the able 
representatives from Illinois, gave no heed to this com- 
munication. The next year the Wisconsin Legislature re- 
turned to the attack. It declared that "a large and valu- 
able tract of country is now held by the state of Illinois, 
contrary to the manifest right and consent of the (Wis- 
consin) Territory." 

Nine Illinois Counties Dissatisfied. The people in the 
disputed district expressed their views at the ballot-box, 
and at public gatherings. A convention representing 
nine counties met at Rockford and declared that the four- 
teen northern counties of Illinois belonged by right to 
Wisconsin. An election was held in Stephenson County 
in 1842, and out of five hundred seventy votes, all but one 
were in favor of uniting with Wisconsin. The Boone 
County election was likewise almost unanimous. Other 
counties also leaned toward our northern sister. Although 
Chicago was promised both senatorships by Wisconsin, 
she realized that her best interests were served by being 
in Illinois, and voted accordingly. The people of Wis- 



112 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS. 

consin, outside of the Legislature, took little interest in 
the dispute. Their law makers, nevertheless, continued 
to hurl defiant messages at the deaf ears of Congress. 
They threatened to secede from the Union, they boasted 
that ''The moral and physical force of Illinois, of the 
whole Union, cannot make us retrace our steps." 

An attempt was made to get the case before the Fed- 
eral Supreme Court ; when this failed, the interest in the 
one-sided struggle gradually died out, and the question 
was laid to rest. 

The Debt of Illinois to Three Men. For the hundreds 
of miles of water boundaries of our state, we are in- 
debted chiefly to three men, to Nathaniel Pope for our 
frontage on Lake Michigan with the harbor of Chicago; 
and to James Monroe and George Washington for the fine 
river boundaries along the Wabash, the Ohio, and the 
Mississippi. 

Old-Fashioned Laws. When Congress appointed Ar- 
thur St. Clair, to be the first Governor of the Northwest 
Territory, he met the judges, who were also chosen by 
Congress, at Marietta, Ohio, 1788, and they wrote out 
a code of laws for the Territory. As there was no print- 
ing press nearer than Pittsburg, the laws were written 
and posted upon trees at the mouths of streams and riv- 
ers, or wherever it seemed likely they might be seen by 
passersby. The man who pulled down such a copy was 
to be put in the stocks for three hours, fined the cost of 
re-writing and posting it, and shut up in jail until the fine 
was paid. A drunkard was fined "five dimes" for the first 
offense, a dollar for the second, and, if he could not pay, 
was put in the stocks one hour. Thirty-nine stripes were 
given those who robbed a house, or broke into a shop, or 
made a false oath. If the burglar were armed he was 



BOUNDARIES AND TERRITORIAL DAYS 113 

deprived of all his property and put in jail for forty 
years. A man might be imprisoned for debt, a bachelor 
under forty, for seven years ; a married man under thirty- 




FIRST CAPITOL BUILDING. KASKASKIA 



six, for five years. If the sheriff allowed a prisoner to es- 
cape, he must take the offender's place, assume all his 
debts and pay the fine for which he had been imprisoned. 
Whoever helped a prisoner escape, received all the lashes, 
stood in the pillory, sat in the stocks; or, if the sentence 
w^as death, stood for hours under the gallows with a rope 
around his neck. Children who disobeyed their parents 
might be sent to jail. When Illinois became a territory 
in 1809, Kaskaskia was the first capital. The Assembly 
met here and re-enacted most of St. Clair's old laws. 



114 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Squatters Buy Their Land. Shadrick Bond was the 
first delegate to Congress from the Territory. It took 
him over a month to make the trip on horseback, and by 
stage, from Kaskaskia to Washington. Prior to 1813 the 
settlers had not been able to secure a good title to the 
land on which they squatted. Nine-tenths of the people 
of Illinois had settled on land which they had no 
right whatever to pre-empt. Very few improvements 
were made, because no one was sure to receive the land 
or the pay for improvements made. For years the people 
had begged Congress in vain to give them the right to 
buy at a fixed price the land on which they had squatted 
and built their cabins. Such conditions discouraged new 
settlers and retarded the growth of the Territory. 

Bond got Congress to pass a law granting squatters 
the preference over all others when their land was sold 
by the government. They could now hope for a home in 
their old age, and they became enthusiastic over the 
future of their prairie settlements. This act entitles 
Shadrick Bond to the gratitude of his state, as it not only 
secured justice to the old settlers but brought in a flood 
of newcomers. 

Counting Forty Thousand People. After a few years 
the people of the territory became anxious to make it a 
state, so they might have a hand in directing the affairs 
of the nation in Congress. That body decided that Illi- 
nois Territory might become a state, provided it had a 
population of 40,000. So the people set out to count that 
many heads. It soon became evident that the census 
would fall short of this number. So the Marshall sta- 
tioned his deputies along the roads, and instructed them 
to count CA^erybody that passed, no matter who they were 
nor where they were going. Immigrants and movers were 



BOUNDARIES AND TERRITORIAL DAYS 115 

thus counted several times after they entered the state. 
The returns footed up 40,000, and Illinois was admitted as 
a state, 1818, but it was afterward ascertained that her 
population was really only 34,620. No other state has 
been admitted with so small a population. 



CHAPTER XI 
FORT DEARBORN AND EARLY CHICAGO 

Why a Fort Was Built On the Chicago River. The 

Louisiana Purchase added a vast tract to the United 
States, and more forts were needed to protect our western 
territory. The British upon the upper lakes were court- 
ing the favor of the countless Indian tribes in that region, 
and had been gaining in influence with them since the 
Revolution. To offset this British influence and impress 
the Indians with the power of the United States, Con- 
gress decided to build a fort at the southern end of Lake 
Michigan. Commissioners came from Washington to se- 
lect a place for it. The mouth of the St. Joseph river 
afforded by far the best harbor on the southern border 
of the lake, and, by this river and by portage there was a 
good passage to the Illinois and the Mississippi. This was, 
therefore, chosen as the site for the fort and future city. 
The Indians, who still retained all this land, however, 
refused to give it up, so the commissioners were forced 
to look elsewhere. A site was finally chosen at the mouth 
of the Chicago river, where there was a harbor and a port- 
age to the Illinois, and where the government had already 
obtained some land from the Indians. 



JORT DEARBORN AND EARLY CHICAGO 117 

Fort Dearborn Built. Hither came the American sol- 
diers, marehini»- through the unbroken wilderness from 
Detroit. Arrivino- at the Chicago river, they harnessed 
themselves up with ropes, for there were neither horses 
nor oxen to be had, and dragged togetlier logs for the 
block-house and palisade. During the summer and fall 
they completed the soldiers' quarters and the block-house, 
which thev called Fort Dearborn. 




OLD FORT DEARBORN 



A schooner brought arms, ammunition and supplies 
from Fort Detroit, arriving on July 4, 1803. On ac- 
count of a sand bar, which choked the mouth of the river, 
the schooner was compelled to anchor outside. Two 
thousand Indians were assembled, grunting their surprise 
and pleasure. They called the schooner the "big canoe 
with wings." 



118 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Kinzie Starts Fur Trading at Chicag^o. John Kinzie 
soon settled here and began to develop an extensive 
fur trade. He became known as the "Indian's Friend," 
and throughout the stormy years that followed, his 
family moved about, not only unharmed by the Indians, 
but protected by them. Kinzie traveled far and wide, 
visiting different Indian tribes and establishing profitable 
trade with them. Fort Dearborn became a fur trading 
post, the peltries being brought in on horseback. The 
vessel which came in the fall and spring with supplies 
for the fort and goods for the trade, carried the furs 
to Mackinac. Kinzie, in addition to his fur trade, manu- 
factured ornaments and trinkets in which the Indians 
delighted. 

Fort Dearborn too Far from Supplies in War. When 
the war of 1812 broke out with England, the Indians, 
led by the famous chief, Tecumseh, joined forces with 
the king against the Americans. Fort Dearborn was far 
away from other frontier forts and settlements, and sur- 
rounded by treacherous savages, so it would have been 
difficult to get supplies in case the British took Detroit. 
Therefore, it was thought best to evacuate the post and 
march the garrison and the few families sheltered there 
to Fort Wayne. 

Captain Heald, who commanded at Fort Dearborn, 
received the exciting news from General Hull, at Detroit, 
that war had been declared against England. Along 
with this news, came the order to distribute all goods 
and supplies in his warehouse to the Indians, and to re- 
pair to Fort Wayne. This could have been done quickly 
and safely before the Indians knew of the approaching 
war, and this was what other officers and Kinzie advised, 
but Captain Heald insisted on waiting till he could assem- 



FORT DEARBORN AND EARLY CHICAGO 119 

ble all the tribes, so that he might distribute the goods 
equally. Meantime the Indians grew insolent and war- 
like. Kinzie was the only white man for whom they had 
any regard. They had been promised a share in the 
supplies but they thirsted for blood. 

Distributing Supplies to the Indians. The two things 
the Indians most wanted were whisky and muskets, and 
there was abundance of both in the fort, as they well 
knew. Captain Heald thought that these were just the 
articles that the Indians ought not to have. He dis- 
tributed broadcloth, calico, ribbons and paints, but he 
said, ''The surplus arms and ammunition I thought 
proper to destroy, fearing that they would make bad use 
of them. I also destroyed all liquor on hand, soon after 
they began to collect." 

The Indians, prowling around the fort, found the guns 
broken and the casks of liquor with heads knocked out 
and contents emptied into the river. This made them 
angry, because they had been promised everything in the 
fort. The old chiefs now said that they could no longer 
control the young braves who were bent on war. 

A Noble Indian Chief. Black Partridge, a chief, who 
had some years before been given a badge as an emblem 
of friendship, now came to Captain Heald and gave it 
back, saying, "Father, I come to deliver up to you the 
medal I wear. It was given to me by the Americans, and 
I have long worn it in token of our mutual friendship. 
But our young men are resolved to imbrue their hands in 
the blood of the whites. I cannot restrain them and I 
will not wear a token of peace while I am compelled to 
act as an enemy.** 

The Indians Plan to Destroy the Whites. ITnknown to 
the Americans, the Indians had held a council of war 



120 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

and resolved to destroy the garrison. At nine o'clock on 
the fifteenth of August, 1812, the gates of the fort were 
thrown open and the troops began their march toward 
Fort Wayne. Brave John Kinzie left his famil}^ with 
some friendly Indians and set out with the soldiers, 
hoping to save them if possible. The Indians told him not 
to go, but he disregarded their advice. 

The Fort Dearborn Massacre. Four or five hundred 
Indians followed the small company of Americans south 
along the trail by the lake. Soon they attacked and 
killed all but twenty-five soldiers and eleven women and 
children. Mrs. Helm, the daughter of Mrs. Kinzie, had 
a narrow escape. She was attacked by a young Indian, 
but warding off the blow of his tomahawk, she threw her 
arms around his neck, trying to get hold of his scalping 
knife. Just then an old Indian seized her and dragged 
her to the lake and plunged her into the water, allowing 
her head only to remain above the waves. She saw he 
was not trying to drown her, and, upon looking at him 
closely, she discovered him to be Black Partridge. After 
the battle she was taken to a place of safety. The next 
day the fort and agency building were burned, and the 
captives distributed among the various tribes. The sav- 
ages decked themselves in the ribbons and finery and 
held a war dance. 

Sometime later, Black Partridge heard that Captain 
Helm was held a prisoner by the Indians on the Kan- 
kakee. He ir.ported this to Kinzie 's brother, and they 
sent the faithful chief to ransom the prisoner. He found 
the Indians would not accept the ransom he had brought, 
so he gave them his pony, his rifle and a large gold ring 
which he wore in his nose. This was accepted, and he 
brought Captain Helm back, and restored him to his wife. 



FORT DEARBORN AND EARLY CHICAGO 121 

The Indian Fighting. During the war of 1812, the 
Indians carried on cowardly and merciless raids on the 
unprotected settlers of Illinois, murdering and plunder- 
ing, and then disappearing before armed forces could 
reach them. They would not fight, even with smaller 
bands of settlers. A year after the war closed, all the 
tribes of the Northwest made a treaty with the United 
States, near what is now Alton, Illinois, on the banks of 
the Mississippi. They remained quiet until the Black 
Hawk war of 18132. 

Fort Dearborn Rebuilt. President Madison, in his 
message to Congress in 1814:, called the attention of that 
body to the importance of a ship canal to connect the 
waters of Lake Michigan, at Chicago, with the Illinois 
and Mississippi rivers. This idea had been first sug- 
gested by Louis Joliet in 1673. With this canal in view, 
the War Department ordered Fort Dearborn to be re- 
built. On July 4, 1816, while the bones of the victims 
of 1812 still lay scattered over the sand drifts, the Ameri- 
can soldiers arrived at the mouth of the Chicago river, 
and began the new fort on the same spot where the first 
had stood. Surveyors also came to examine the divide 
and report on the cost and difficulty of the canal project. 
During that summer John Kinzie returned with his family, 
to find that the Indians had spared his house from the 
flames. 

Fort Dearborn Gets Supplies from Kaskaskia. The 
northern half of the state was still unsettled, except in 
a few places, though southern Illinois had advanced so 
far that it was about to ask to be admitted into the 
Union as a state. Communications were soon opened with 
Kaskaskia by the way of the Chicago, Des Plaines, and 
Illinois rivers. Along this route by rowboats and portage, 



122 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS. 

supplies of flour, meat and other necessities were brought 
from southern Illinois to Fort Dearborn. Fur trade 
again became the leading industry of the settlement. 

Glimpses of the Pioneer City. In 1818, there were but 
two log huts outside of the enclosure of the garrison. 
The nearest postoffice was Fort Wayne, Indiana, from 
which place mail was brought once a month. 

In 1820, Schoolcraft, who was on a visit to Chicago, 
found it "a small village of ten or twelve houses, ac- 
commodating sixty people— half-breeds, Canadian-French 
fur traders and Virginians.*' 

Major Long gives the following description of Chicago 
m 1823: ''The village presents no cheering prospects 
as * * * it consists of but a few huts inhabited by 
a miserable race of men scarcely equal to the Indians, 
from whom they are descended. Their houses are low,' 
filthy and disgusting, displaying not the least trace of 
comfort." Mr. Long thought that Chicago would never 
become a great commercial city, because of the dangers 
of lake navigation and the scarcity of harbors. 

The Illinois-Michigan Canal. The state of Illinois, hav- 
ing been given by Congress a wide strip of land along the 
proposed canal route, began in earnest to plan the Illinois- 
Michigan canal. Commissioners arrived in Chicago in 
1829, platted the city on land donated to the state by 
Congress, and began to sell lots. The canal project at- 
tracted many people here, and the population began to 
^^low, and real estate to rise in value. In a year the 
population had increased to about one hundred, but still 
Chicago had no post office. The mail carrier now came 
once a week instead of once a month. There grew up a 
brisk trade with the Indians of this region, but their 
presence was a hindrance to the growth of the city. 



FORT DEARBORN AND EARLY CHICAGO 123 

Cook County Organized. In 1831, Cook County, 
named for Daniel F. Cook, was organized, and there- 
after had its own tax collector. Prior to that the col- 
lector was forced to make a long trip of one hundred 
miles or more on horseback to Chicago, for a few dollars 
in taxes, which would not pay the expenses of his trip. 

Chicago as Seen in 1832. The people of Chicago in 
that early day are described by an eye witness as fol- 
lows: ''Next in rank to the officers and commissioners, 
may be noticed certain shop-keepers and merchants resi- 
dent here. * * * Add to this a doctor or two, two 
or three lawyers, a land-agent and five or six hotel keep- 
ers. These people inhabited some fifty clapboard houses. 
Land speculators as numerous as the sand, you will 
find horse-dealers and horse-stealers — rogues of every de- 
scription, black, white, brown, red — half-breeds, quarter- 
breeds, and men of no breed at all; dealers in pigs, and 
poultry, and potatoes * * * sharpers of every de- 
gree, peddlers, grog sellers ; Indian agents and Indian 
traders of every description, and contractors to supply 
the Pottawatomies with food. The little village was in 
an uproar from morning to night, and from night to 
morning, for, during the hours of darkness, when the 
housed portion of the population of Chicago strove to 
obtain repose in the crowded plank edifices of the vil- 
lage, the Indians howled, wept, sang, yelled and whooped 
in their various encampments. AVith all this, the whites 
to me seemed to be more pagan than the red men." 

The City Grov^rs and Real Estate Rises. In 1833 
Chicago began a wonderful growth. The village was 
organized, and by the end of the year there w^ere one 
hundred sixty houses. In the same year, four steamers 
arrived, and lake commerce began. The harbor w^as poor, 



124 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS. 

vessels being compelled to anchor outside and push their 
live stock overboard to wade ashore. But Congress made 
appropriations to improve it. The first newspaper, the 
y Chicago Weekly Democrat," was established, though 
it frequently suspended publication for lack of paper. 
Land agents were good advertisers. Soon hosts of immi- 
grants began to come, and property along the canal rose 
amazingly. 

One transaction may be noted, by the way of illustra- 
tion. Early in the spring of 1835, a Mr. Hubbard bought 
eighty acres of land east of the river, paying for it $5,000. 
A few months after his purchase he had occasion to go 
east, and upon visiting New York, much to his surprise, 
he found quite a speculation in Chicago property raging 
there. Grasping the opportunity for a good bargain, he 
hired an engraver, had a plat of his eighty acres prepared, 
and sold half of his land for $80,000. Upon returning 
to Chicago and spreading the news, city property went 
up enormously in value. ''Each man who owned a garden 
patch stood on his head, imagined himself a millionaire, 
put up the corner lots to fabulous prices, and, what is 
strange to say, never could ask enough." The price of 
lots rose from a hundred, to a thousand times what they 
had been. Speculation ran wild, until the panic of 1837 
came. 

So rapidly did the newcomers swarm into the town, 
that the taverns could not begin to hold the crowd ; men, 
ivomen, and children thronged the wharves and streets. 
Store-houses were thrown open for their shelter, and 
when this device could no longer supply the demand for 
lodging places, tents were set up in the streets. Lumber 
could not be brought fast enough to supply the demands. 
Lake Street was not properly graded and drained, and 



FORT DEARBORN AND EARLY CHICAGO 125 

stagnant water stood there, breeding fevers. Many new- 
comers, hesitating to risk their health in Chicago, went 
into the interior of the state. 

Dirt Begins to Move for the Canal. In the winter of 
1835, and 1836, the Legislature finally passed the act 
authorizing the canal, and there was great rejoicing in 
Chicago. A mass meeting was held at wiiich it was voted 
to fire twelve guns in honor of each man who voted for 
the measure, and to request the Chicago newspapers to 
print their names in large capitals, while the names of 
those who voted against it w^ere to be printed in small 
italics. On July 4, 1836, it is said that every man, woman 
and child in Chicago, w^hose health would permit, went 
to Canalport to celebrate the removal of the first shovel- 
ful of dirt. 

Chicago's Trade Grows. The actual digging of the 
canal was the signal for still larger flocks of settlers, 
many of whom made Chicago their home, while hundreds 
pushed on to the prairie farms. They laid in supplies at 
Chicago for their new homes on the distant plains, and 
this trade made the merchants wealthy. From a hun- 
dred miles and more away, the farmers came to Chicago 
to market their produce and buy merchandise. All this 
hastened the growth of the town, so that in 1837, Chicago 
was made a city. There were at that time five hundred 
buildings, inhabited by four thousand people. 

Hard Times. Then came the panic, which gave the 
young city a terrible blow. Immigrants ceased to come. 
Everybody wanted to sell their property, but could 
scarcely give it away. Some, who later became wealthy 
men, owed it to the fact that they could not sell their 
property at any price during these dark days. Commerce 
was dead. For tw^o years gloom and hard times prevailed. 



126 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Lake Commerce. Chicago now began to be a shipping 
point. In 1838, seventy bushels of wheat were exported 
from her harbor, the next year nearly four thousand. 
By 1845, nearly a million bushels were carted in by 
farmers for export. They found Chicago a good market 
for their hogs and cattle, and they came great distances 
to sell the products of their rich farms. Commerce on 
the Great Lakes made rapid strides. 

No Paved Streets. North of the Chicago Kiver lay 
the residence section, connected by bridge and ferries 
with the business district to the south. Sidewalks were 
built and trees planted. This helped to make life here 
more pleasant, though the streets were not yet paved 
Prairie grass still grew in them. In rainy seasons they 
became almost impassable. In order to attend social 
events, it was often necessary for the men to wear high 
boots, and for ladies, sometimes, to go on drays, because 
carriages were yet scarce in this pioneer city ' 

The First Water Works. In 1839, was built the first 
water works. A reservoir and pumping station was con- 
structed on the shore of the lake. The water was dis- 
tributed through a pipe-line made of logs with a six inch 
bore. Where this line did not reach, water was carried 
m carts. 

The First Coal in Chicago. The first shipment of coal 
to Chicago came in 1841, in the schooner, "General 
Harrison." It consisted of eight.y tons of soft coal from 
Cleveland. It took the dealer nearly two years to dis- 
pose of It. Wood was the only fuel then used in Chicago 
and might be had for $2.50 per cord. Coal could not be 
burned until grates, standing on legs, were oast and set 
in the fireplaces. 



FORT DEARBORN AND EARLY CHICAGO 127 

After the panic, Chicago recovered her prosperity and 
grew steadily in population and commerce. Wheat, flour, 
corn, oats and meat poured in from the rich farming 
section. By 1850, the beef and lumber trade had grown 
to be the greatest in America. Frame business blocks 
began to give place to substantial brick structures. 

The First Public School Building in Chicago. There 
was not a school building in the city prior to 1844. 
Schools there were, to be sure, but they were conducted 
in rented rooms. A few years later. Alderman Miltimore 
obtained an appropriation to build a public school. The 
people ridiculed the idea. They said it was squandering 
money. AVhen completed, it was called " Miltimore 's 
Folly." The Mayor, too, scoffed at it because it was too 
extravagant to build such a useless, costly structure. He 
declared that it would accommodate more children than 
there ever would be in Chicago, and that it should be 
turned into an asylum for the insane. If this mayor had 
been living in Chicago sixty years later, he might have 
counted a score of great high schools, nearly three hun- 
dred elementary schools, and three hundred thousand 
school children. For some years the Board of Education 
was not able to construct buildings fast enovigh to keep 
pace with the increasing number of school children. 

Plank Roads. In those early days, Chicago's com- 
merce dwindled away in the spring of the year, because 
it was well-nigh impossible at this season for the farm- 
ers to make their way over the low, flat prairies, through 
the muddy roads. To overcome this hindrance, plank 
roads were built by private companies in every direc- 
tion from the city, costing from 1,000 to 1,500 dollars 
per mile. Whoever used these roads had to pay a toll 
of one and a half cents per mile, to keep the roads in 



128 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS. 

repair. These plank roads paid the owners from fifteen 
to forty per cent, per year, which proved a fine invest- 
ment. 

There were still, 1850, no paved streets in the 
"AVindy City." In the spring, teams stuck in the mud 
in almost every block on Lake Street. On boards stick- 
ing up in the streets, might be read such signs as, "No 
Bottom Here," or, "Shortest Road to China." The plank 
street-crossings were covered with mud, and seemed only 
to keep the foot-passengers from sinking out of sight. 

"The chief business of the city at that time," said a 
newcomer, "seemed to be receiving emigrants bound for 
the West, and fitting them out for their journey across 
the country. As we entered the narrow river which is 
the harbor, we could see muddy streets, along which were 
successions of small frame buildings, with a few^ brick, 
no tAvo of them the same height, with board sidewalks 
on such differing levels that pedestrians in walking a 
single block were obliged to ascend and descend stair- 
ways a dozen or more times." 



CHAPTER XII 
THE BLACK IIAAVK WAR 

The Chief Indian Village. For generations the Sacs 
and Foxes had roamed the phiins of Illinois. Their chief 
village of Saukenuk was located near the mouth of Rock 
river. The nation's graves were here, and the affections 
of the whole tribe were centered about this village. 

The Indian Treaty. Shortly after the War of 1812, they 
ceded to the United States fifty million acres of ground, 
mostly in Illinois, for the annual payment of one thou- 
sand dollars. The Indians were to be permitted to hunt 
on this land as long as it belonged to the government. 
This treaty, as usual, was all in favor of the United 
States, and now they wished the Indians to withdraw 
across the IMississippi. 

The Squatters Want the Indians' Cornfields. There 
was, as yet, no need to crowd the red men out, since the 
settlements had not approached within fifty miles of their 
village, and the whole of northern Illinois was still unoc- 
cupied, except by a few scattering farmers near Chicago. 
But a report of the fertility of the Indian lands had 
attracted that restless class of squatters who were always 
reaching out to the distant frontiers. They knew there 
were millions of acres of vacant land on the prairies just 
as good as that about the Indian village, but it Avas not 
in a condition to plant crops. 



130 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

The Cause of Trouble. The real cause of the trouble 
was, that the whites universally detested and feared the 
red men. This feeling is shown by a law passed in 1814 
by the Illinois Legislature, offering a reward of fifty 
dollars for every Indian captured while on the warpath, 
or killed in any settlement of the whites, or one hundred 
dollars for each warrior, squaw or child taken prisoner 
or killed in their own territory, during hostilities. The 
presence of the savages in the state could no longer be 
tolerated, and the cry was 'Hhe Indian must go.'* 

Squatters Ordered off by Black Hawk. Every year, 
when the Sacs and Foxes returned from their annual 
hunt, they found more of their cornfields fenced in by 
white squatters, who had not the shadow of a right to 
them. The squaws and children were driven off and 
sometimes their lodges were burned. When the warriors 
returned in the spring of 1830, to find the graves of their 
ancestors turned under by the plow, the patience of 
Black Hawk was about exhausted, but no outbreak oc- 
curred until the following spring, when they returned 
from an unsuccessful hunt to find most of their fields in 
other hands, and starvation staring them in the face. 
They were in no mood to parley. When told, with a threat, 
to clear out, they replied that if anyone was to with- 
draw, it must be the whites, and that they meant to help 
them go. 

Governor Reynolds Drives Black Hawk across the 
Mississippi. The squatters, numbering about forty, now 
appealed to Governor Reynolds to protect them from the 
misused Indians. They told the Governor that the 
Indians had thrown down their fences, driven off their 
cattle, and threatened their lives. Reynolds replied by 
ordering the removal of the tribe entirely from the state. 



THE BLACK HAWK WAR 131 

The militia was called out and Black Hawk, seeing the 
uselessness of fighting many times his own number, re- 
treated across the Mississippi. lie was forced to agree 
not to return, but, for some reason, he came back the 
following year. Black Hawk claimed that the chiefs 
who signed the treaty giving away the lands had no 
right to do this, that the lands belonged to the tribes, and 
not to the chiefs. He said he had returned to raise a 
crop on their old fields, or, if not permitted to do so, to 
go north to the country of the AYinnebagoes for this pur- 
pose. The whites accused him of trying to unite all the 
tribes of the Northwest for a general war on the settle- 
ments. 

Indian Fighting. Eight thousand volunteers were 
called out to join fifteen hundred soldiers of the regular 
army, to expel from the state this starving tribe of four 
hundred braves and their women and children. 

The war lasted three months. During this time there 
w^as pillage, burning, and bloodshed among the various 
unprotected settlements. The scattered pioneer families 
quickly withdrew, with their valuables, to the block- 
houses and forts. Those about Chicago, to the number 
of five hundred, crowded into Fort Dearborn, where it 
was almost impossible to feed and shelter them. It hap- 
pened that two settlers had gone into stock-raising, and 
had, already for market, one hundred fifty cattle. They 
drove them into the enclosure of the fort, and thereby 
averted a meat famine. 

General Scott soon came by steamer, with re-enforce- 
ments for fhf. garrison, but be bronjjht fi^on^ also the 
dreaded cholera, which had broken out among his sol- 
diers on the steamer. The inhabitants of the fort were 
soon dying so fast, that there were left hardly enough 



132 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS. 

well ones to take care of the sick and burj^ the dead. As 
soon as they knew what the disease was, the settlers 
fled from the fort, preferring the possible danger of toma- 
hawk and scalping knife, to the ravages of this fatal 
pestilence. 

The Indians were hotly pursued by superior numbers 
and driven from place to place. Having no chance to 
obtain food, they w^ere forced to eat bark stripped from 
the trees, and meat from the carcasses of their dead 
ponies. Frequently, along the march, were found the 
bodies of those who fell from starvation and exhaustion. 

Battle of Bad Ax. The w^retched band was at length 
run down, surrounded on the banks of the Mississippi, 
and mercilessly butchered. So furious was the Ameri- 
can firing that many warriors threw down their muskets 
and climbed trees to save their lives, only to be picked 
off by sharpshooters. When the slaughter ceased, the 
three hundred women and children who survived, re- 
treated across the Mississippi, helpless from hunger and 
suffering from wounds. Here they supposed they were 
safe, but General Atkinson had instructed a band of 
Sioux Indians to attack them, and about half of the poor 
survivors were slain. 

Black Hawk Surrenders. Black Hawk had escaped 
to the forest before his nation was driven across the 
Mississippi. After the war he gave himself up. He said, 
*'I loved my village, my cornfields and my people. I 
fought for them. They are now yours. I have looked 
upon the Mississippi since I was a child. I love the great 
river. I have always dwelt upon its banks. I look upon 
it now, and I am sad. I shake hands with you. We are 
now friends." 



THE BLACK IIAAVK WAR 133 

Black Hawk's Last Days. Black Ilawk was taken 
east to see President Jackson. He said to him, ''You 
are a man, and I am another." He was put in prison, 
first at Fortress Monroe, and later, after b^iing taken on 
a tour through the eastern cities, he was placed in Fort 
Armstrong. After five years, his freedom was given him, 
and, at the age of seventy-one, he was placed upon a res- 
ervation in Iowa, where he soon died. 

The Red Men Disappear from Illinois. Thus, the last 
of the red men disappeared from the fertile plains of 
Illinois. The war cost millions of dollars, and a thousand 
lives. The whole disgraceful contest might have been 
avoided by wise and just treatment of the Indians, and 
the payment of a few thousand dollars for land worth 
millions. It is interesting to know that Abraham Lin- 
coln and Jefferson Davis both fought side by side in this 
war. 



CHAPTER XIII 
A TIDE OF IM]\IIGRATION 

Why People Rushed to the West. Perhaps you will 
wonder why so maii}^ people were willing to leave their 
friends and relatives and their old homes on the Atlantic 
for the lonely cabin life on the prairies, about which they 
knew so little. There were many reasons for this tide 
of emigration to the West. 

The soldiers who had chased Black Hawk and his 
tribe of Indians up and down the state, carried back to 
their homes in the East glowing accounts of the prairies. 
Land companies were formed to speculate in western 
lands. They sent thousands of circulars among the peo- 
ple of the Atlantic seaboard, pointing out the golden 
opportunities in Illinois. The walls of buildings in the 
eastern cities were covered with maps of western towns 
that never existed, and whose location was miles in the 
wilderness, without a house or a human being. The land 
craze spread over the East. Those who came first were 
delighted, and wrote back to their friends, painting the 
prairie life in bright colors. Thus many were taken with 
the "western fever." Some restless characters came for 
the mere sake of adventure. They longed for the excite- 
ment and dangers of the frontier life. Others bent their 
way westward because they believed that a new country 
offered a better chance to get on in the world, and to 
make a fortune. 



A TIDE OF IMMIGRATION 135 

Cheap Lands in the West. Farm lands in the East had 

risen in price beyond tlie reach of the poor, while the hne 
prairies of Illinois could ])e had for two dollars an acre. 
This was later, 1841, reduced to a dollar and a quarter 
an acre. Products could be raised in the fertile West, 
shipped to eastern market, and sold cheaper than the east- 
ern farmer could raise them on his rocky hillside farm. 
This led the New England farmer to sell out and make 
his way toAvard the setting sun. There were crop failures 
in New England from 1821 to 1837 that drove many to 
seek new homes. Yankee farmers of wealth went into 
sheep-raising, which, on account of the tariff: on wool, Avas 
very profitable. They could use large tracts of compara- 
tively poor land for sheep pastures, and so they bought 
out the small farmers, thus giving the sellers a chance 
to move toward the sunset frontier. 

Another important cause of the westward rush was 
the panic of 1837, which caused shops and factories all 
over the East to shut down, throwing thousands out of 
work. Newspapers advised the idle and hungry classes 
of the cities to emigrate to the Mississippi valley, and 
they went. 

Slavery drove the poor whites from the south Atlantic 
States, because laborers received but twelve and one-half 
cents per day. Everybody who needed labor bought 
slaves, and the poor whites had to move out or starve. 
Some wealthy people left the slave states for the north- 
west because they thought slavery a curse, and wished to 
live in a free community. All these causes drove people 
toward the Avest in such numbers that the land was taken 
up very rapidly. 

Western Trade Floated to New Orleans. The trade 
of the entire Ohio and IMississippi valleys was floated 



136 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS. 

down to New Orleans, and her wharves w^ere lined with 
hundreds of flatboats unloading wheat, flour, pork and 
live stock, gathered up on the central prairies. Fifteen 
hundred flat-bottomed boats and five hundred barges 
floated down the Mississippi to New Orleans in one year 
(1817). New Orleans w^as enjoying a rich harvest, and 
her population w^as growing. 

Water is always the cheapest way to carry goods. 
The Cumberland Road brought Baltimore and other east- 
ern cities into easier communication with Wheeling and 
Pittsburg, but it still cost too much to haul goods over 
this long route. The freight on a single ton of goods from 
Philadelphia to Pittsburg, by wagon, was one hundred 
tAventy-five dollars. For hauling a hundred pounds of 
sugar three hundred miles by w^agon, the charge was five 
dollars. In fact, the freight was often greater than the 
first cost of the merchandise. Western cities could still 
get goods much cheaper by way of New Orleans. 

Why Canals Were Built to Reach the Ohio and the 
Lakes. Now the eastern cities were not willing to see 
New Orleans enjoy all this rich trade, but how could they 
prevent it, unless they, too, could get a short water route 
to these western regions? At last they hit upon the 
idea of building canals to the Ohio along the waterways 
that penetrated the backbone of the Alleghanies. 

There was also another reason for this canal craze 
that swept over the Atlantic states. People were flock- 
ing westward in such numbers that the East was being 
drained of its population, especially of the laboring 
classes. In order to stop this loss, the legislatures of 
Virginia and North Carolina decided to build good roads 
and canals, and to improve their rivers so that farmers 
could get to market more easily. This, they thought, 



A TIDE OF IMMIGRATION 137 

would satisfy the farmers, and cure their longing for the 
west. 

Effect of the Canals. New York tried to get Congress 
to build a canal from Albany to Buffalo, and when the 
national government refused, the state undertook it 
alone. AVhen the Erie Canal, as it was called, was com- 
pleted, 1825, the trade of New York City with the Great 
Lake region, and even with Pittsburg, grew rapidly. 
Philadelphia business men could not long remain idle 
and see their rivals at New York City growing rich upon 
trade that should come to them, and so Pennsylvania was 
soon building a system of canals to connect different 
parts of the state with Pittsburg. 

All these roads and canals, instead of checking the 
westward movement, helped it along. In early days, the 
emigrants directed their steps toward the Ohio, because 
once reached, it would carry them westward without 
effort. 

The Portage Railroad. But one emigrant, bound for 
Illinois by way of the Ohio, built his boat on the east 
side of the Alleghany mountains. He did not expect, 
when he started, to ride in it clear over the top of this 
mountain range. But, let us follow his westward journey 

''Jesse Cheesman loaded his boat, which he called 
the ''Hit or Miss," on the Lackawanna river in north- 
eastern Pennsylvania. He had on board, besides his wife 
and children, beds, furniture, tools, pigeons, and live 
stock. He sailed down stream till he came to the Penn- 
sylvania canal at Harrisburg. Here his craft was taken 
into the canal, which he followed westward to its end 
at Hollidaysburg, on the east side of the Alleghany range, 
where he expected to sell his boat. 

But he found at this point a curious portage rail- 



138 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS. 

road, thirty-six miles long, leading over the mountains 
to Johnstown, on the other branch of the canal. The rail- 
road agent told Cheesman not to sell his boat, because he 
would have to buy or build another on the west side. 
He said he could take Cheesman 's family over the moun- 
tains, boat and all, if he would put the vessel on wheels. 
This was done, and the vessel and cargo started over the 
Alleghanies on the railroad. Horses and mules served 
as engines on some of the level stretches of track of this 
portage railroad, and stationary engines pulled them up 
the steep inclines, by winding up a long cable, one end of 
which was tied to the car. There were six inclines on 
each side of the mountain range, where stationary engines 
were necessary on account of the steep grades. 

*' Cheesman 's boat, starting at noon, rested at night 
on the top of the mountains, like Noah's ark on Ararat. 
This was done, too, without disturbing the family ar- 
rangement of cooking, eating and sleeping. The next 
morning the boat w^as let down in the same manner into 
the Ohio valley, launched in the canal at Johnstown, and 
sailed for Illinois. To cross this portage of thirty-six 
miles, Cheesman 's boat was hitched to twelve stationary 
engines, tw^elve different mule teams, and nine locomo- 
tives. It took fifty-four trainmen and drivers to conduct 
him across, twelve engineers and tAvelve fireman for the 
stationary engines, nine of each for the locomotives, and 
twelve drivers of mules." 

Steamboats on Western Rivers. The first steamboat 
on the Ohio was built in 1811. It was six years before 
the first one landed at St. Louis. These early boats 
were not well suited for river use, because they were 
copied after deep sea vessels, and drew too much water. 
So, during the summer when the river was low, they were 



A TIDE OF IMMIGRATION 139 

useless. Most of them used stern wheels, because Fulton 
had a patent on the side wheels, and made owners pay 
to use them. Early steamboats were poorly built and 
met with many accidents. Boilers blew up, and often 
the}" were stranded on sand bars or tree trunks hidden 
under the water. They went very slowly up stream, 
two or three miles per hour. 

A writer of that day gives the following description 
of a boat's human cargo: "In the cabin you will find 
ladies and gentlemen of various claims to merit, on the 
forward part of the boat, the sailors and firemen, full 
of noise and song, and too often, of whiskey ; whilst above 
in the deck cabin there is everything which may be called 
human — all sorts of men and women, of all trades, from 
all parts of the world, of all possible manners and habits. 
There is the half-horse and half-alligator Kentuckj^ boat- 
man, swaggering and boasting of his prowess, his rifle, 
his horse, and his wife. One is sawing away on his 
wretched old fiddle all day long, another is grinding a 
knife or a razor ; here is a party playing cards ; and in 
yonder corner is a dance to the sound of a Jew's harp." 

The Overland Trip. It was no small task to provide 
roomy flatboats, or arks, for the live stock that many 
emigrants wished to take with them to their new homes, 
so, large numbers made the entire journey overland. 

For the overland trip to Illinois the ox-cart Avas much 
used. A yoke of oxen could draw an enormous load. 
They went at a snail's pace — one and a half miles an 
hour. In the autumn, when the crops were harvested and 
the oxen were fat, and the roads dry and hard, farmers 
from Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana could be seen, some- 
times singly, sometimes in caravans, making their way 
to the great West to try their fortune. Newspapers of 



140 THE STOPtY OF ILLINOIS. 

that day often made mention of large parties passing. 
*'0n the 27th ult. quite a caravan of the hardy sons of 
Pennsylvania passed through this city on their way to 
Stephenson County, Illinois. There were fourteen wagons 
and sixtj^-one persons." 

One man, traveling through Indiana, towards Vin- 
cennes, counted four hundred emigrant's wagons in fifty- 
five miles. Some e^en traveled afoot. ''Sometimes the 
light wagons containing the possessions of the movers 
were drawn by the people themselves, the head of the 
family between the shafts of the wagon, harnessed with 
a collar and traces, while the rest of the family, accord- 
ing to their strength, pulled with ropes attached to 
various parts of the Axhicle. Below the axle dangled pots 
and kettles of all sizes and forms. To a Yankee mover, 
a plow, a bed, a barrel of salty meat, a supply of tea and 
molasses, a Bible, and a wife, were the indispensable 
articles." 

Children Driving the Stock. In front usually rode 
on horseback, the eldest sons or daughters driving cows, 
sheep, and hogs. *'To start off with a mixed drove of 
animals was no trifling affair, for, though they would 
drive pretty well after getting used to the road, their 
obstinacy and contrariety at first were surprising, and a 
boy to each animal was little enough. First a pig would 
dart back and run like a deer till he was headed and 
turned, by which time the others would meet him and all 
have to be driven up; while, in the meantime, a cow or 
two would be sailing down a by-lane with elevated head 
and tail, and a breathless boy circling through a field or 
the woods to intercept her career; and then the sheep 
would start over a broken piece of fence, the last follow- 
ing the first, and leaping higher over every obstacle, till 



A TIDE OF IMMIGRATION 



141 



they were brought back to the road." Sometimes the 
horses would get loose during the night, and, having a 
feeling of homesickness, they would make off toward 
the old home, leaving the family in great despair. 

In very hot weather the caravans traveled at night, 
and rested by day in some cool shade, near water and 
wood. When they camped, the fire was started, the cook- 
ing utensils brought out, and while the meal was cooking, 
the men unharnessed the tired horses, and put them out 
to graze on the open prairie, while the children skipped 
about, exploring the new surroundings. Beds were made 
up in the wagon, and sometimes, in good weather, upon 
the ground. 

In the morning there was a stir and bustle to get 
started. The stock was rounded up and driven on ahead. 
After breakfast, camp was broken and all were ag?in 
moving westward. Fifteen miles was a good day's 
journey. 




WALK-IN-THE-WATER 



CHAPTER XIV 
YANKEES IN NORTHEEN ILLINOIS 

Black Hawk War Checks Western Emigration. AYhen 
Black Hawk and his nation took the war-path, in 1832, 
all the outlying settlements became greatly alarmed. Not 
knowing at what hour of night they might be awakened 
by the warwhoop, they made haste to seek safety. Some 
took their belongings and returned to their old homes in 
the South. Others withdrew southward to the nearest 
settlements or block houses. Stories of Indian barbarity 
were told in the Atlantic states, and the enthusiasm for 
prairie homes soon cooled. 

A New Route to the West. After the Black Hawk 
war was over and the prairies cleared of red men, immi- 
gration set in stronger than ever, but coming now mainly 
from New York and Ncav England. The opening of the 
Erie Canal, 1825, made the trip from the Hudson River 
to Buffalo an easy one, while steam vessels on the Great 
Lakes enabled the emigrants from Buffalo to reach Chi- 
cago quickly and easily. This northern route to Illinois 
now became very popular with the Yankee farmers, who 
came in such swarms as to quickly seize hold of the 
northern and central parts of our state. 



YANKEES IN NORTHERN ILLINOIS 143 

Steamers on the Great Lakes. The first steamer that 
ever tioated ou Lake Erie, called AValk-iu-theWater, 
reached Detroit in 1818, and the next year proceeded to 
Mackinac, where the savages were made to believe that 
the strange looking vessel, with neither oars nor sails, 
was drawn by a hnge team of trained sturgeon. It was 
several years, however, before the first steamer reached 
Chicago.*^ The first one arrived in 1832, bearing provisions 
for the army that was fighting Black Hawk. The number 
of steamboats on the lakes increased wonderfully in the 
next few years. 

Where Immigrants Left the Lakes. In 1834, eighty 
thousand emigrants departed from Buffalo westAvard. 
Some of these left the lake at Erie, Pennsylvania, and fol- 
low^ed the Indian trail to the headwaters of the Ohio. 
Others, among whom was Stephen A. Douglas, stopped 
off at Cleveland, and directed their course toward the 
Ohio. Still others left the lake at Toledo, ascended th^ 
jyiaumee river, as General Hamilton had done years 
before, and came down the Wabash to Vincennes. A 
considerable number took their course through the for- 
ests from Detroit, either to the Kankakee, which tho> 
followed to the Illinois river, or around the southern end 
of Lake Michigan to Chicago. 

Steamboats to Chicago Increase. But after the steam- 
boats began regular trips to Chicago, most of the Yankee 
farmers bound for Illinois came to this city. There were 
four arrivals of boats at Chicago the first season, the 
next year nearly two hundred, and in 1836 the number 
had grown to four hundred fifty. 

A Chicago paper in 1835 said: '* Almost all the ves- 
sels from the lower lakes are full of passengers, and our 
streets are thronged w4th wagons loaded with household 



144 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS. 

furniture and the implements necessary to farming. Foot 
passengers, too, with well filled sacks on their shoulders, 
come in large numbers." 

Final Journey by Stage. Stage lines ran from Chi- 
cago, carrying these newcomers in all direction. The 
chief one followed the state road to Danville. Another 
carried passengers to the Kankakee, where they took boat 
for central Illinois or St. Louis. In 1839, the Frink and 
Bingham stage line from Chicago to Galena advertised 
the journey of one hundred sixty miles by stage, in two 
days, — the passenger's fare being twelve and one-half 
dollars. Many immigrants purchased their teams and 
wagons in Chicago, laid in a supply of implements and 
provisions and started off to find a home. The roads 
were miry in places, and the teams often stuck in the mud. 
Then followed a long wait for some mover to approach. 
By double-teaming they pulled each other across. 

Yankees Meet Southerners in Central Illinois. These 
immigrants from New England were farmers who knew 
very little about pioneer life. They differed very much 
from the hunter-pioneers, who, with their slaves, had 
settled the entire wooded region of southern Illinois. 
This northern or prairie pioneer, brought with him, in- 
stead of a rifle and hunting knife, his oxen and farming 
tools. With him came the merchant, the schoolmaster 
and the preacher. 

The Yankees quickly took possession of all the wood- 
lands of northern Illinois. Knowing little of how to farm 
the open prairies, they refused to abandon the timbered 
regions until they were all taken. Then some moved out 
on the higher prairies, and fortune smiled on them. 

These prairie pioneers came in such numbers that they 
soon overflowed southward, meeting, in the central part 




THE YANKEES IN ILLINOIS 



YANKEES IN NORTHERN ILLINOIS Uo 

of the state, the woodlaud pioneers from the Soutli, who 
had seized upon tiie timbered river valleys. The Yankee 
farmers elbowed their way between the wooded regions, 
seizing upon the open prairies. 

Problems of the Prairie Pioneers. Under these new 
conditions there were some hard problems for the prairie 
pioneers to solve. First, he must build a house for his 
family. If his prairie home was within a few miles of 
timber, he might, if he had the money, buy logs for a 
cabin. But, if he had settled twenty or thirty miles from 
woodlands, he had to be satisfied with a clay or sod house. 
The latter was built of sods, about two feet long, eighteen 
inches wide, and four inches thick, cut fresh from the 
prairies. These were laid upon each other after -the 
manner of bricklaying, and held firm by wooden pegs 
driven through two or more layers. To roof it, shingles 
had to be drawn with ox teams from Chicago, fifty or 
one hundred miles away. By the time the farmer got 
his lumber to his cabin it had cost him such unheard-of 
prices that few could afford it. Usually the pioneer 
had to be contented at first with a roof of thatch or 
straw. 

After a time some one introduced a sawmill. This 
venture proved so profitable that soon scores of mills 
were set up in the timber belt. The trees were sliced up 
so fast that the mud cabins rapidly disappeared, and com- 
fortable frame houses took their places. 

Plowing the Prairie Sod. The next problem of the 
prairie farmer was to get his fields ready for planting a 
crop. He did not have to clear his ground of trees, to 
be sure, but it was a difficult job to plow the tough sod 
of the prairie. It was as tough as leather, and neither a 
single team of horses nor oxen could turn it over with 



146 THE STOKY OF ILLINOIS. 

a plowshare. What could the farmer do? At last 
ox teams to the number of three, four, five, and even six 
yoke were used, hitched to a pair of cart wheels, and 
these to a plow^ with a beam fourteen feet long, and a 
share which weighed anywhere from sixty to one hun- 
dred twenty-five pounds. 

This cut a furrow from sixteen to thirty inches wide, 
and a few inches deep. Shallow plowing proved the best, 
as it killed the prairie grass by exposing the roots to 
the hot sun. The expense of hiring this first plowing 
done w^as greater than the cost of the land itself. The 
first season brought a fair crop, and in a few years the 
black prairie soil was yielding immense returns. 

The Pioneer Builds Fences. But the farmer had to 
protect his crop from stock, and so needed fences. Along 
the w^ooded valleys this was a simple problem, for rails 
could be split out of trees and a fence made of them. 
Farther from timber, this could not be done. These 
Yankee farmers knew how to build a fence out of stones, 
as they had done in the East, but there were no stones 
on the prairie. Sod fences were tried, but cows and pigs 
climbed over them into the cornfields, unless they were 
strengthened by a rail or board along the top. Hedges 
were planted, but they would not turn Mr. Hog, besides, 
weeds and grass grew in them, and that helped to spread 
dangerous prairie fires. Board, or picket fences were too 
expensive. Some farmers followed the plan of fencing 
in enough for the cattle, hogs, and sheep, and farm- 
ing the prairie without a fence. New-comers frequently 
raised crops of corn without protection. During the day, 
the boys kept stray cattle off, and at night the crop took 
its chances. This difficulty of finding the proper fence 
was not met until wire was used for this purpose. 



YANKEES IN NORTHERN ILLINOIS 147 

It was impossible to protect crops against gophers 
and prairie chickens, which often dug up two or three 
phmtings of corn. Gopher hunts, to kill oft* these pests, 
became popular. The prairie wolves were more danger- 
ous. They would steal pigs and lambs, and rob hencoops. 
On holidays hunts were organized to run them down. 

Finding a Market. The black prairie soil on ten thou- 
sand farms was producing immense crops. The farmer's 
corn cribs were bulging out. His wheat and oat bins 
were full to overflowing, and his cattle and horses were 
sleek and fat, but he was not contented. To be sure, he 
was raising many times more grain and stock than his 
family could use, but where could he sell his surplus? 
There were few cities in Illinois where much farm produce 
was wanted. So the farmer fed corn to cattle and hogs, 
because they could walk to market. Such vast quantities 
were raised that it had to be shipped to the Atlantic cities 
to find a market. Those who happened to live near large 
rivers, such as the Wabash, Illinois, Ohio, and Mississippi, 
could ship by water on the Mississippi, and the At- 
lantic to the eastern cities. But this was a long, long 
voyage, and the sea trip dangerous. The farmer found 
it better to sell his produce to a steamer at the landing 
than to have no market at all. 

''The Ohio was now, 1825, dotted with floating shops. 
At the sound of a horn, the inhabitants of a village, or 
the settler and his family, would come to the river to 
find a dry-goods boat fitted with counters, seats and 
shelves piled high with finery of every sort, making fast 
to the bank. Now it would be a tinner's establishment, 
within which articles of every description were made, 
sold and mended; now a smithy, where horses and oxen 
were shod and wagons repaired ; again, a factory for the 



148 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS. 

manufacture of axes, scythes and edged tools." The 
farmer could here exchange grain or stock for clothing, 
cooking utensils, furniture, and farm tools. 

National Road a Friend to the Farmer. By 1840, the 
Cumberland National road had been extended, at a cost 
of $7,000,000, through Columbus, Indianapolis and Van- 
dalia to St. Louis. It played an important part in the 
life of the West, enabling people to travel overland easily 
between the Atlantic seaboard and the Mississippi. Traf- 
fic on this road was very heavy in both directions. 
Drovers gathered up sheep, cattle and hogs from the 
prairie farms and drove them to the eastern markets 
along this pike. Emigrants from Ohio, Indiana, and 
Pennsylvania flocked to Illinois over this route. But it 
was out of the question for farmers to haul their wheat 
and oats a thousand miles to Baltimore, even over this 
good road, to find a purchaser; besides, this pike was 
convenient for those only who lived along it. 

Farmers who had settled near Lake Michigan found a 
ready market at Chicago, where their stock was slaught- 
ered and their grain shipped east by way of the Great 
Lakes and the Erie Canal. ^ 

The Long Haul of the Inland Settler. The inland 
counties were dotted with farms and granaries bursting 
with golden grain, but there were no buyers short of 
Chicago, a hundred miles away. Here the inland farmer 
must go to sell his grain, and buy the things he had to 
have. Once or twice a year he set out on this long trip. 
Sometimes farmers clubbed together, loaded two or three 
wagons, hitched two or three yoke of oxen to each, and 
away across the prairie they toiled. The trip took two 
weeks or more. Their wheat was not put into bags , but 
was shoveled loose into the wagon box which was lined 




MAP OF PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS, 1837 



YANKEES IN NORTHERN ILLINOIS 149 

with a sheet. It was not uncommon to see a hundred 
such wagons a day on the state road between Chicago 
and Galena. The roads were poor and muddy much of 
the year, and few streams were bridged. So, there arose 
among the farmers a demand for good roads, canals and 
railroads, which even yet has not been fully answered. 

Great Improvements Needed. Our state is so vast 
and was settled so quickly that it was impossible to do 
many things that needed to be done. The heaviest taxes 
that could have been laid would not have brought in 
enough money to cut out half the roads, or build half 
the bridges required, or clear half the streams so boats 
could run on them. The people, however, insisted on these 
improvements. The craze for canals, railroads and river 
improvements was so overwhelming that the State Leg- 
islature undertook to carry out the people's wishes. 

Congress Gives Illinois a Vast Land Grant. The 
Illinois-Michigan Canal was already under way. Through 
the efforts of Daniel P. Cook, our representative in Con- 
gress, the government had granted to Illinois two hun- 
dred twenty-five thousand acres of public land along the 
route of the canal. This land was to be sold by the state, 
and the proceeds used to build the waterway. But farm 
lands in those days, could be had for two dollars an acre, 
therefore the sale of this land could bring but a small part 
of what the canal would cost. 

So, the state was compelled to borrow millions for this 
project. When completed, this canal would accommodate 
only the people who happened to live along its path be- 
tween La Salle and Chicago. Now, Illinois is a big state, 
and the people in every section of it demanded their 
share of these improvements so they could get to market. 
The men whom they elected to the Legislature foolishly 



150 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

tried to do it all at once. Railroads were surveyed in 
all directions, and the great task begun. 

Illinois Borrows Heavily. A state can borrow money 
by selling its bonds. AVhoever sells bonds agrees to pay 
interest on them, and to buy them back at a certain time, 
at their face value. So the state government, being 
unable to raise enough money from taxes at that time 
to pay even the ordinary expenses, began to sell its bonds 
by the millions, to build the railroads and canals. 

Bonds Sold in Europe. Men were sent to New York 
and other eastern cities with loads of state bonds to mar- 
ket. They kept putting the price down, so that people 
would bu3^ them. "When this failed to bring in enough 
money, salesmen were sent to Europe to dispose of more 
bonds, and they had to sell them very cheap to get rid 
of them — a hundred-dollar bond, for as little as thirty 
dollars. 

Huge Debt Piled up. The state was soon saddled with 
such a huge debt that people at last refused to buy her 
bonds at any price, fearing that she could never redeem 
them. Before the people came to their senses, they had 
piled up a debt of nearly fourteen million dollars, and it 
began to look as though the state could not even pay the 
interest on this huge sum. 

Then the bubble burst ; the money ran out ; and no 
more could be borrowed, so all work on improvements 
had to cease. The state was nearly ruined; a hundred 
dollar state bond was worth but fourteen dollars ; and 
people began to talk of repudiating the whole debt, that 
is, simply refusing ever to pay it. This would have been 
a great disgrace to our state, and we are glad to know 
that it did not happen, for Illinois paid every dollar of 
this stupendous obligation. 



YANKEES IN NORTHERN ILLINOIS 151 

Illinois Fails in Business. After the crash came, and 
the state was bankrupt, it was found that only twenty- 
five miles of railroad were finished — that between Mere- 
dosia and Jacksonville. An engine was put on this track, 
but it could not pay expenses. It was, therefore, taken 
off, and mule teams were used to pull the cars for a few 
years, when the road was sold to a private company. 
Though the state had spent and wasted a million in build- 
ing this short road, it was given away for barely twenty 
thousand dollars. 

The Canal Saved. What should the people do now ? The 
rich prairie farms were almost w^orthless unless the pro- 
duce raised on them could be got to a market. The 
people declared that the canal, at least, should not be 
given up. Chicago had donated thousands of dollars 
towards its building, but this, too, had been spent. So, 
for a certain time, the canal was to be turned over to 
those who had bought our bonds, provided they would 
furnish the $160,000 necessary to finish it. At last this 
was done, and the Illinois-Michigan canal was completed 
in 1848. 

Canal Pays — Results. It was one hundred miles long, 
sixty feet wide at the surface, and six feet deep. It had 
cost in all six and one half million dollars, but it earned 
enough in thirty years, together with the money obtained 
from land sales, to pay it all back. General Thornton was 
the first to pass through the canal, and the event was cele- 
brated along the way by the booming of cannon, speeches 
and enthusiastic meetings. This water road brought 
more business to Chicago, gave the farmers and mer- 
chants along its route cheap conveyance for their pro- 
duce and goods, and caused a boom in real estate all along 
the line. Upon the arrival in Ottawa of the first barge 



152 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

load of lumber from Chicago, the price dropped from 
sixty dollars a thousand feet to thirty, and it went still 
lower. 

The Chicago to Cairo Railroad. As early as 1835, 
Judge Sidney Breese suggested that it would be a fine 
thing to build a railroad across the state from Chicago 
to Cairo. During the craze for improvements, the state 
actually built a few miles of this line, as we have seen, 
but gave it up. Since Congress had donated so many 
thousand acres of land to Illinois to help her build her 
canal, Breese and Douglas, at that time our senators, 
urged that body to give another splendid grant to assist 
in building this railroad. 

Another Generous Gift. Year after year, their bill was 
defeated in one house or the other, but they kept bring- 
ing it before Congress. Finally, in 1850, Illinois received 
the magnificent donation of two and one-half million 
acres along the route of the proposed railroad, to be used 
as the state saw fit in helping to build the road. 

The Illinois Central. Since the state itself had made 
such a failure in building improvements a few years be- 
fore, it was thought best to turn this fine land grant 
over to some private company which might thus be in- 
duced to do the work. This was done, and the Illinois 
Central received three thousand seven hundred acres of 
land for every mile of railroad it was to build. The main 
line from Cairo to La Salle, three hundred and one miles, 
was completed in 1855. It was extended to Chicago the 
next year. Another line ran from La Salle via Galena 
to Dunleith. 

What the Illinois Central Pays the State. In return 
for the land, the railroad was to pay the state each year 
seven per cent, of its gross earnings. It is claimed that 



X 
w 

en 

H 
> 

H 

> 

o 




YANKEES IN NORTHERN ILLINOIS 153 

Illinois has received from the railroad, during the last 
fifty years, enough to build all our fine state institutions, 
including the magnifieent stnte capitol at Springfield. 

The Illinois Central proved a great blessing to the 
people near it and to Chicago, which soon sprang to the 
front as the largest city west of the Alleghanies. The 
prairie farms quickly doubled in value. The state has 
now become a net-work of railroads reaching out to the 
farms and towns in every corner of its domain. Today 
one can scarcely find a spot in all Illinois where he canno^t 
see the smoke or hear the whistle of a locomotive. 

Illinois Farmers' Need of Pikes. The flat surface of 
most of our state, with the slow drainage, makes our 
vvagon roads fearfully muddy and almost impassable in 
the wet season. For years the prairie farmer has longed 
for good hard wagon roads. But now, with the coming 
of the automobile, the cities, too, are urging the need of 
limestone pikes. This is a task to be accomplished, per- 
haps, by the boys and girls who read this book. 



CHAPTER XV 
THE INTRODUCTION OF SLAVES 

The First Slaves in Illinois. Slaves were first brought 
into the Illinois country at an early date. The French 
were hardly well settled in the American Bottom, when 
one Philip Renault was employed by a French company 
to come to Upper Louisiana, as the Illinois country was 
then called, and develop mines. He gathered two hun- 
dred miners and laborers, and set sail from France in 
1719. 

On his Avay across the Atlantic, Renault stopped at 
San Domingo and purchased five hundred black slaves. 
With these he pushed on to the mouth of the Mississippi 
and sailed slowly up this broad river, until he finally 
landed and established headquarters at a place which 
he named St. Philip, not far from Kaskaskia. 

Renault immediately sent out parties in all directions 
to locate the gold and silver, which he hoped would soon 
make him and his company immensely rich. He found 
plenty of Indians, buffaloes and wild game, but no gold. 
After about twenty years spent in fruitless searching, 
he gave up in discouragement, sold his slaves to the 
French colonists, and returned to France. 



THE INTRODUCTION OF SLAVES 155 

Slaves Do Not Increase. The iiuniber of slaves in the 
Illinois country did not increase very rapidly, though a 
few more were brought up from New Orleans. Thirty 
years after Renault came, a French missionary to the 
Illinois Indians Avrote, "In the five French villages there 
are, perhaps, eleven hundred whites, three hundred blacks, 
and some sixty red slaves or savages." 

Thus we learn that Indians as well as negroes were 
held in slavery here, A few years later, 1763, when 
France gave the Illinois country to England, there w^ere 
nine hundred slaves counted. But many of the French 
colonists, not wishing to live under English rule, moved 
to St. Louis or New Orleans, taking their slaves with 
them. This reduced the number. 

Uncle Sam Receives Illinois With Her Slaves. While 
England ruled over this country northwest of the Ohio, 
she did not interfere with slavery, and so, at the close 
of the Revolution, the country of Illinois came into the 
hands of the United States with slavery firmly estab- 
lished. 

When Virginia gave up to Uncle Sam her claims to 
the Illinois country, 1784, she did so upon the condition 
that the French inhabitants of Kaskaskia and neighbor- 
ing villages be allowed to retain their property and their 
rights. The French understood from this that they 
might continue to hold their slaves unmolested, for, 
' 'surely," they said, ''our slaves are our property." 

The Ordinance of 1787 Forbids Slavery. Soon, how- 
ever. Congress passed the ordinance of 1787, which, 
among other things, prohibited slavery in the Northwest 
Territory. The slave owners were much disturbed, and 
many planned to move across the Mississippi into Span- 
ish territorv, but Governor St. (Tair said he understood 



156 THE STOEY OF ILLINOIS 

the Ordinance to mean that no more slaves were to be 
brought into the territory, though the people might keep 
those they already had. The governors who succeeded 
St. Clair believed the same way, and soon everybody 
came to accept this view. In this manner slavery con- 
tinued in Illinois under a law that forbade it. 

Desire for More Slaves. But there were not slaves 
enough in the territory to go around. Many new set- 
tlers were coming into Illinois from southern states where 
they had always had slaves. These newcomers thought 
they had as much right to have slaves as the older French 
settlers, and they besought Congress to change the Or- 
dinance, so as to allow other slaves to be brought in. 
They sent petition after petition to Congress, but no at- 
tention was paid to them. After the purchase of Louis- 
iana, while Illinois was yet a part of the Indiana Terri- 
tory, the slave holders begged to have Illinois set off from 
Indiana and joined to Louisana, so as to make it slave 
soil. When Congress refused to do this, the slave hold- 
ers hatched a scheme to evade the law, for they were 
determined, by hook or crook, to have negro servants to 
do their work. 

Plan to Evade the Law. They remembered how in 
early Virginia days, white immigrants had been bound 
out for a term of years to pay for their fares across the 
Atlantic. They were called indentured servants. South- 
ern immigrants to Illinois hit upon this plan to secure 
slaves in the territory. Negroes were brought in freely 
and bound out to service, until everybody who could 
afford them had th.ese black servants. 

In order that this kind of slavery might appear law- 
ful, the people had their Territorial Assembly pass a num- 
ber of laws, fixing the term of service, and the rights and 



THE INTRODUCTION OF SLAVES 157 

duties of masters. These laws, passed in 1805 and 1807, 
came to ])e called the ''Black Laws." 

"The Black Laws." Under these laws "all male ne- 
groes, under fifteen years of age, must serve till thirty- 
five years of age; women till thirty-two. Children born 
to persons of color during the period of service could 
be bound out, the boys for thirty years, and the girls for 
twenty-eight." 

The names of these servants had to be registered 
with the County Clerk where they lived. Ninian Ed- 
wards, the first Governor of Illinois, entered his servants 
as follows: 

"Rose, twenty-three years of age, — for thirty-five 
years : 

Anthony, forty years old, — for fifteen years : 

Maria, fifteen years of age, — for forty-five j^ears : 

Jesse, twenty-five years of age, — for thirty-five years 
of service." 

Many masters paid no attention whatever to the law, 
and registered servants for as long as they wished. In 
Madison County records is the following: 

"1817, November 6, — Peter, aged seventeen, — bound 
to serve ninety-nine years." No one took the trouble to 
prosecute these law breakers, because so many were guil- 
ty. Besides, those Avere free and easy days, settlements 
were scattered, and laws hard to enforce. Thus we see 
that slavery went on in southern Illinois about the same 
as in a southern slave state. 

Illinois A Slave Or Free State. During the early daj^s 
not much had been said as to whether it was right or 
wrong to enslave negroes, "to eat one's bread in the 
sweat of another's brow," as Lincoln said. But now that 
the people Avished to make a state of their territory, they 



158 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

began taking sides on the slavery question. Some wished 
to make Illinois an open slave state. Others were con- 
vinced that slavery was a moral evil, and that it 
would hinder the growth and settlement of their state. 
A third party wished to continue the ''indenture sys- 
tem," because they feared that Congress would not ad- 
mit Illinois with a slave constitution, and it would be bet- 
ter to compromise than to lose all. Besides, they felt that 
indentured servants were almost as satisfactory as slaves. 
There was indeed little difference. This last party finally 
won in the Constitutional Convention at Kaskaskia, in 
1818, and Congress accepted the Illinois constitution with 
the "indenture system," and made the territory a state. 

The New Constitution and the Slave. The new state 
constitution made no change in the term of servants al- 
ready indentured. All these unfortunate blacks must 
serve their terms, however long. But children of inden- 
tured servants were to become free, boys at twenty-one, 
girls at eighteen. No new indenture contracts could be 
made for more than one year, and even then the servant's 
consent must be obtained. 

To have the legal terms reduced from thirty-five years 
to one year seemed a long step toward freedom for the 
poor slave, but it did not work out that way, for masters 
usuall}^ forced their ignorant negroes to renew their con- 
tracts year after year. And so little relief came to ne- 
gro servants hy the change from territorial to state 
gevernment. However, the number of blacks brought in 
from the South gradually decreased. 

Demand for a Slave Constitution in Illinois. When the 
question of admitting Missouri as a slave or free state 
came up in Congress, Daniel P. Cook, the able representa- 
tive from Illinois, made bold attacks on slavery, and 



THE INTRODUCTION OF SLAVES 159 

many Illinois peoi)le at home took a lively interest in the 
Missouri contest, throwing their influence against slavery. 
This, of course, angered the Missouri slave holders, who 
resolved to retaliate by stirring up trouble in Illinois, 
and thus to give the anti-slavery people of Illinois 
enough to do at home. So they persuaded the pro-slav- 
ery element in Illinois to demand a change in their con- 
stitution so as to make slavery legal. 

Now, the only way to change the Illinois Constitution 
was for the Legislature to pass a resolution favoring a 
convention and then submit this resolution to the people. 
If a majority of them favored it, a convention would be 
called to consider the proposed changes. 

Slave Holders Confident. The pro-slavery people felt 
certain that they could control the convention to their 
liking, provided the legislature would only start the 
movement by passing a resolution, and provided also, 
that the people voted in favor of a convention at an elec- 
tion held for that purpose. So secret plans were made to 
bring about a convention and fasten slavery upon Il- 
linois forever. These plans, however, were disclosed and 
spread broadcast. This made such a stir that the attempt 
was postponed a few years. 

Immigrants to Missouri Stir Up Slavery. In the mean- 
time Missouri, a slave state, had been set up along the 
western border of Illinois, and wealthy emigrants were 
passing through Illinois with their flocks and slaves. 
They refused to stop in Illinois because it was not open 
to slavery. Even the poor emigrant from the South with 
his worn-out old horse and broken down wagon, who had 
never owned a slave, likewi^se refused to make the Prairie 
State his home, for the same reason. One of those who 
did not own enough ''plunder to buy a cat," on being 



160 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

asked why he did not stop in Illinois, replied, **Well, sir, 
your sile is mighty fertile, but a man can't own niggers 
here, gol durn you!" The pro-slavery men in Illinois 
used this as an argument to prove that slavery would be 
a good thing for the state, as it would attract new settlers. 
So they began to push their plans to change the state 
constitution. 

The Slave Holders Start the Fight. The time seemed 
ripe in 1822, when it became necessary to elect a new Gov- 
ernor, a Representative to Congress, and also members to 
the state Legislature, The contest for Governor was won 
by Edward Coles, an opponent of slavery, who had emi- 
grated from Virginia some years before. He had brought 
his slaves with him and had set them free. Cook, also 
an opponent of slavery, as we have seen, was re-elected 
to Congress, but the supporters of slavery elected a ma- 
jority to the Legislature. 

Governor Coles Urges the Negro's Rights. As soon 
as he was inaugurated, Governor Coles set about improv- 
ing the condition of the negro. He recommended the re- 
peal of the infamous "Black LaAvs," and asked the Leg- 
islature for a severe law to punish the kidnapping of free^ 
negroes. But the Legislature turned a deaf ear to his 
appeals. 

It soon appeared that the pro-slavery legislators were 
bent upon passing the resolution for a constitutional con- 
vention. It was introduced in the Senate, and passed by 
that body. But when it came to be voted on in the House, 
it was defeated by two votes. There was much excitement, 
and a determined effort was made to win over two votes 
and reconsider the question. The pro-slavery men adopted 
the motto ''The Convention or Death." They hesitated 
at no means that might win the two votes. Slave holders 



THE INTRODUCTION OF SLAVES 161 

from Kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri were present in 
the corridors stimulating sentiment in favor of slavery. 

Two Votes Won and One Lost. News of the contest 
spread like wildfire over the state, and soon a flood of let- 
ters poured in upon the members, some favoring, others 
opposing the resolution. At last Mr, Rattan, of Green 
County, announced that the sentiment in his county was 
in favor of the convention and that he would change his 
vote accordingly. Likewise Mr. McFatridge, of Johnson 
Count}^ was won over by the promise to change the coun- 
ty seat in his county. 

The pro-slavery men now thought there could be no 
hitch, so they brought the resolution to a vote again. 
When the result was announced they were dumbfounded, 
for the resolution was again lost by but one vote„ Their 
auger knew no bounds when they discovered that Repre- 
sentative Hansen, of Pike County, had, at the last minute, 
changed sides and voted against them. While a few weeks 
before the House had decided unanimously that Hansen 
was fairly elected to his seat, the pro-slavery members 
were now bound to reverse that vote, take his office from 
him and give it to his opponent. This they could do by a 
mere majority vote. 

How the Slave Owners Won. That night excitement 
ran high. Men and boys burned Hansen in effigy; they 
marched through the city, blowing horns, beating drums 
and tin pans, shouting "The Convention or Death"; they 
went to the homes of Governor Coles and the friends of 
freedom and gave cat-calls, followed by three groans for 
Hansen and three cheers for the convention. The next 
day a vote was hurriedly taken, by which they unseated 
Hansen and gave his place in the House to his opponent, 
whom they had unanimously declared a few weeks before 



162 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

had no right whatever to it. Hansen's opponent, of 
course, had promised to vote with them. The resolution 
was then taken up for the third time, and passed. 

The Resolution and the People. Great was the re- 
joicing of the slavery advocates. The victory was cele- 
brated by a noisy torch-light procession, with beating of 
drums and great shouting, with cheers and groans. But 
their high-handed behavior soon acted as a boomerang. 
The news spread quickly over the state, and the infamous 
and unjust way in which they had ousted Hansen turned 
many against the convention. 

Now, at last, the people were to vote on the question 
of calling the convention, and both sides girded them- 
selves for the battle. Open slavery in Illinois was hang- 
ing in the balance. The result of the election would de- 
cide whether the Prairie State should become slave soil 
or continue to be numbered among the free states. 

Newspapers Take Sides. At first the pro-slavery side 
seemed to be gaining in influence and confidence. 
Newspapers of the South took up their cause, and like- 
wise the St. Louis papers, which had a considerable circu- 
lation in Illinois. Besides, four out of the five newspapers 
then published within the state favored slavery. For a 
while the pro-slavery advocates denied that the purpose 
of calling a convention was in order to fasten slavery 
upon the state. But, it was all too evident, and they soon 
boldly admitted it. 

The Convention and Freedom. The anti-slavery forces 
were not without strong supporters. They adopted the 
battle cry ''No Convention and Freedom," and set about 
the task of arousing the people to the dangers threaten- 
ing their free state. A large number of ministers and 
many influential writers espoused their cause. Governor 




FREE AND SLAVE COUNTIES IN 1824 
(Black Indicates Slave Counties) 



THE INTRODUCTION OP SLAVES 163 

Coles gave his entire salary to fight the call for the con- 
vention. 

The People Vote the Resolution Dov^n. The resolu- 
tion passed the legislature in Fel)ruary, while the election 
was not to occur till a year from the following August. 
So, there was plenty of time for working the people into 
a fever heat. As the election day approached, every cit- 
izen took i)art in the struggle. Neighbors wrangled and 
even resorted to blows. The topic was debated from 
every platform and pulpit. Families became divided and 
commerce almost ceased till the burning question could 
be settled. At last the fateful second of August (1824) 
came. It was a day of excitement and controversy. 
When night put an end to the struggle, it was found that 
the friends of freedom had won and the convention call 
had been defeated by 1,668 votes. 

The Result of the Fight. The result of that day's 
battle was far-reaching. It decided that Illinois was to 
remain permanently among the free states. For this 
reason, emigrants ceased to come into the state from the 
South, because they saw that the great battle for slavery 
in Illinois had been fought and lost. On the other hand, 
pioneers from the North and East flocked in to take pos- 
session of the free, fertile prairies. 



CHAPTER XVI 
THE DECLINE OF SLAVERY 

Slavery Goes On As Before. While the people of Il- 
linois fought desperately to prevent their soil from be- 
coming open slave territory, they were not yet ready to 
stamp it out altogether. As soon as they had defeated 
the call for a convention they alloAved the subject to drop. 
Everybody seemed anxious to forget about the bitter 
struggle. No attempt whatever Avas made to do away 
with indentured servitude. Slavery went on as before, 
and the ''Black Laws" remained in force. 

How Slaves Were Treated. Indentured negroes were 
Avhipped for laziness or misbehavior. When not needed 
at home they were often rented out. A year's service 
was worth about one hundred dollars. They were fre- 
quently sold at auction, just as in the cotton states, except 
that in Illinois the slave's consent had first to be ob- 
tained. But this served as no check, because if the ser- 
vant refused his consent, his treatment became so harsh 
that he was glad to exchange masters. The price of a 
black boy or girl was from three hundred to six hundred 
dollars, according to size, health, and the length of the 
term of servitude. 



THE DECLINE OF SLAVERY 165 

The newspapers of those days contained many adver- 
tisements offering servants for sale, along with horses 
and cattle. The following appeared in the Kaskaskia Re- 
publican, May 2, 1842 : 

EXECUTOR'S SALE 
Antoine Barbeau— Executor— offers for sale the 
estate of the late Marie L. Blais to wit : 
One mulatto woman, 28 years, 
One mulatto man, 21 years, 
Two mulatto girls, 10 and 8 years. 
One mulatto boy, 5 years. 

Also hogs, horses, cattle and sheep; household 
furniture and farming tools. 



Negroes were also bequeathed by will. One Benjamin 
Kuykendall willed to Polly Gatten his negro boy, David, 
''to have and to hold as her own property, from this time 
forth and forever." 

New Laws Tighten the Shackles. Some new laws were 
even enacted which made it almost impossible for a slave 
to get his freedom. He was forbidden to act as a wit- 
ness in court against any white person. What hope was 
there for him to get justice when he could not even testi- 
fy to the truth? Every law seemed designed to tighten 
the shackles of the slave. 

The Lot of the Free Negroes. But the lot of the free 
negroes in Illinois was a hard one. They were looked 
upon as a necessary evil. They had neither the protection 
of the laws nor the right to vote, and of course no chance 
to get an education. Public sentiment did not permit 
them to own property. Colored persons found within the 
state without freedom papers could be arrested and sold 
at auction by the sheriff for one year's service. 



166 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

The Negroes Kidnapped. There grew up also the 
evil practice of kidnapping free negroes and carrying 
them back to the cotton states to be sold to the highest 
bidder. Severe laws were made in Illinois to stop this in- 
famous business. Kidnappers were to be put in the pil- 
lory, to receive from twenty-five to one hundred lashes, 
and to be fined one thousand dollars. But the law was not 
enforced, and kidnapping increased and became very 
profitable. Young negroes brought good prices. It was 
easy to make a hundred dollars and more apiece. 

How This Evil Business Was Managed. For the pur- 
pose of kidnapping negroes, two or three persons usually 
worked together. One stationed himself at a border town 
like St. Louis, and advertised himself as a slave merchant. 
He planned the measures and means of getting away with 
whatever prey was turned over to him. The others 
scoured the country looking for free negroes. They used 
various inducements to get the negro to the border town. 
Any kind of promise or threat w^as used to entice the 
negro on board a boat or wagon, and then under cover 
of darkness, all haste was made to get out of the county 
before the sheriff could overtake them. Once out of the 
county, they were among strangers and proceeded with- 
out being suspected. At the border town the blacks were 
smuggled aboard a Mississippi steamer bound for the 
slave marts at Memphis or New Orleans, and were heard 
of no more. 

"On the night of May 25, 1823, a free colored man, 
named Jackson Butler, his wife, and six children, resid- 
ing in Illinois, a fcAv miles from Vincennes, were kid- 
napped by a band of raiders from Lawrence County in 
this state. Butler had belonged to General Harrison in 
Kentucky, had been brought to Indiana, had been inden- 



THE DECLINE OF SLAVERY 167 

tured, and had faithfully worked out his term of service. 
His wife was born free, which rendered his children also 
free. They were taken down the Wabash to the Ohio, 
and from there disappeared farther south. Harrison, 
learning of the outrage, at once offered a large reward 
for the capture of the perpetrators. His name gave the 
matter wide publicity, and the Butlers were rescued at 
New Orleans, just as they were about to be shipped to 
Cuba." Hundreds of free negroes were thus kidnapped, 
and dragged back into hopeless life-long servitude. 

Slaves Decrease. After the fight of 1824 to make 
Illinois a slave state was lost, the number of slaves gradu- 
ally decreased, until 1830, there were only seven hun- 
dred forty-six. They ceased to be brought in from the 
outside. And of those already in Illinois, some died ot 
old. age, and some of disease. Some worked out their 
contract time and were given freedom papers. Still 
others were taken by their masters to other states. Oc- 
casionally some good man gave his slaves their freedom, 
because his conscience told him it was right to do so. 
This did not happen very often, because slaves were valu- 
able, and could be sold for several hundred dollars each. 
One master gave his slave his freedom because ''he has 
compensated me by his labor and money for the amount 
I paid for him, viz.: $825." 

St. Clair's Opinion of the Ordinance. It is difficult to 
understand why slavery continued in Illinois for half a 
century after it had been clearly forbidden by the Ordi- 
nace of 1787. The people of the territory were, of course, 
preparing to obey the law as they would any other. Those 
who were determined to keep their slaves were getting 
ready to move to New Orleans or across the Mississippi, 
when Governor St. Clair declared that the law forbade 



168 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

bringing in any more slaves, but that it did not affect 
those already here. This view pleased the people, who 
were chiefly immigrants from the slave states. So they 
decided to remain and to continue to hold their slaves 
until ordered to do otherwise. 

Who Decides What a Law Means. Now a governor's 
opinion of what a law means is no more binding than 
that of a private citizen. In our government, only a 
judge, sitting on the bench, has a right to interpret a 
law, and even he must wait until a case comes before 
him which brings that particular law into dispute. 
Strange to say, for thirty years, neither the Supreme 
Court of Illinois nor the United States Supreme Court had 
a chance to decide whether or not it was lawful for sla- 
very to go on in Illinois. 

Why Slaves Did not Appeal to the Courts. There 
were several reasons for this. In the first place the slaves 
were ignorant of how to proceed to test the law, and no 
one wanted to assist them. Then, too, the slaves were 
very poor, and we all know it costs a great deal to go to 
law. Lawyers must be employed, witnesses paid, and 
there are other costs in a law-suit that either party may 
have to pay. Sentiment throughout southern Illinois was 
so strongly pro-slavery that it was even unsafe to express 
views opposed to it. The laws were so written that the 
negro could not protect himself, and few whites had the 
courage to espouse his cause and face the unpopularity 
and persecution that were sure to be encountered. In 
some cases lawyers who tried to help the negroes were 
shamefully treated. 

Northern Illinois for Freedom. But northern Illinois 
was rapidly filling up with Yankees, as we have seen, 
and the sentiment here was strongly opposed to slavery. 



THE DECLINE OF SLAVERY 169 

Even among the slave counties of southern Illinois, friends 
of the negro were beginning to speak out boldly. They 
helped the slave to get his ease before the courts. For 
a time, the judges who had been elected by the pro- 
slavery men, dodged the real question, or simply decided 
the cases against the negro, because they thought most 
people would gladly uphold them in that decision. 

Gradually, however, anti-slavery men increased in 
number and influence. Lawyers began to plead the 
negro's case so powerfully in the courts that judges were 
forced to give justice to the slave. Some of these friends 
of the negro were at last elected to the bench, and then 
decisions multiplied in behalf of freedom. 

Illinois Slaves Freed. In 1836 the courts declared 
that children of registered servants were free. In 1845 
two great decisions of the Illinois Supreme Court un- 
loosed the shackles of the slave in this state and set him 
free; one, in effect, declared that indentured servitude 
was illegal, and the other freed the descendants of the 
slaves of the old French settlers born after 1787. Other 
decisions followed, but the infamous ''Black Laws" were 
left on the statute book until 1865, when they were at last 
repealed. 

The number of slaves decreased from about seven 
hundred in 1830, to less than three hundred in 1840 
"When the great decrees of 1845 came, most holders of 
servants and slaves at once gave them their liberty. 

Now that we have followed the story of how Illinois 
shook off the curse of slavery from her ow^n soil, it re- 
mains only to notice what an active part her people took 
in stamping it out from the rest of the Union. 



CHAPTER XVII 
LOVEJOY AND THE ABOLITIONISTS 

Opposition to Slavery. Since the days of the Revo- 
lution, there had been in both the North and South men 
who were opposed to slavery. They believed that it was 
not only wrong but that it stood in the way of progress. 
Washington, Jefferson and Madison were all slave hold- 
ers, yet they were opposed to slavery. They hoped 
that it would decline and gradually disappear from 
American soil. Jefferson said: ''I tremble for my coun- 
try when I remember that God is just." 

The Cotton Gin. Most northern states had freed their 
slaves prior to the Revolution, and it was hoped that 
the South would sooner or later do the same. But the 
cotton gin, invented by Whitney (1793), made cotton 
raising immensely profitable in the South, and negroes 
were wanted in large numbers to hoe and pick this crop. 
Plantation owners were becoming Avealthy, and were nat- 
urally unwilling to part with their slaves. 

Northern people came to see that the South could not 
be trusted to abolish slavery, so certain conscientious men 
of the North began to fight for the freedom of the slaves. 



LOVEJOY AND THE ABOLITIONISTS 171 

The North Divided on Slavery. There were all shades 
of opinion among the people who opposed slavery. The 
great body of northerners were in favor of merely hedg- 
ing it about in the fifteen states where it existed, and 
thus preventing it from spreading into the other states 
and territories. A few people believed that it should be 
blotted out from the slaves states even, but they would 
do it gradually, so as to work as little harm as possible 
to the slave owners. They believed that if the slave 
holders could be brought to see how great a sin slavery 
was, they would willingly set the blacks free. 

Abolitionists. Still a handful of others would abol- 
ish servitude everywhere in the Union, and would do it 
immediately, by force, if necessary, regardless of who 
would suffer, or what the consequences might be. This 
class came to be called in the South the "Black Aboli- 
tionists." William Lloyd Garrison was the leader of 
this party. 

Garrison founded the ''Liberator," published in Bos- 
ton in 1831, and in this paper he denounced slavery with 
great power and severity, demanding "immediate eman- 
cipation." He said that the constitution which permitted 
this great evil was a "covenant with death and an agree- 
ment with hell." At an open-air celebration of Abolition- 
ists in Massachusetts, he burned a copy of the United 
States Constitution. He would break up the Union, he 
said, if slavery could not be destroyed in any other 
way, for he would have no union with slave holders. 
His bitter words were sent everywhere through the col- 
umns of the "Liberator," and they gave great strength to 
the Abolition movement. In 1835 there were in the 
North, two hundred abolition societies, five vears later 



172 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

the number had grown to two thousand. For a long 
time the Abolitionists stood for a despised cause. Some- 
times they could not even get a hall in which to hold 
their meetings, and were obliged to meet secretly in stable 
lofts. 

Attempts to Silence Abolitionists. There was oppo- 
sition to the Abolitionist doctrine throughout the coun- 
try. The South was violent with anger. In the North, 
too, men who were opposed to slavery regarded "imme- 
diate emancipation '^ as dangerous doctrine. They feared 
that it would stir up bitter strife between the North and 
the South, break up the Union, and do much more harm, 
than good to the negro cause. Attempts were made in 
almost all of the northern states to silence the Aboli« 
tionists. Their meetings were often broken up, and 
Garrison was mobbed. Elijah Lovejoy became a martyr 
to liberty in our own state. 

Lovejoy 's Early Life. To be the eldest son of a New 
England minister, a century ago, meant anything but a 
life of luxury. Elijah Lovejoy 's father, in addition to 
his church duties, tilled the soil to help provide for his 
family. The son was early encouraged by his parents 
to become a scholar. He read the Bible at the age of 
four. Perhaps he appreciated his hours of study all the 
more because they had to be taken Avhen the day's work 
on the farm Avas over. At any rate, he made good use 
of them, for he graduated from Waterville College at 
the age of twenty-four, much admired by all his fellow 
students, not only for his scholarship but for his dignity 
and noble character. It is also said that he made a fine 
figure in athletics. 

His taste for writing first showed itself in some very 
commendable poetry. After teaching a few years in 



LOVEJOY AND THE ABOLITIOxNISTS 173 

Maine, he became interested in the West, and came to St. 
Louis, where he taught and began newspaper . work by 
contributing to the local papers. 

Love joy Urges Freeing the Slaves. While living in 
St. Louis, Lovejoy entered the ministry, and it was in 
connection with a religious paper, "The Observer," which 
he edited, that he began his famous crusade against sla- 
A'ery. His editorials aroused much itidignation, for the 
slave holders resented the idea of giving freedom to their 
negro servants, as nuich as they would the proposition 
to give away their horses and cows. 

Lovejoy knew this, but he w^as an intensely con- 
scientious man himself, and he believed that if the people 
were brought to see that slavery was wrong, they would 
of their own accord set their negroes free. For this 
reason he at first disagreed with the Abolitionists, who 
believed that the owners of slaves should be forced to 
give them up at once. Lovejoy plainly stated his views 
in an editorial saying: ''Gradual emancipation is the 
remedy we propose. This we look upon as the only de- 
sirable way of effecting our release from the thralldom 
in which we are held." 

His Life Threatened. Although he was so considerate 
of the slave-holders' rights, many of them became very 
angry with his article on slavery, so much so that nine 
leading citizens, who were Lovejoy 's good friends, sent 
him a petition begging him to stop stirring up the ques- 
tion, because they had heard so many threats concerning 
him that they feared for his life. 

Lovejoy kept this petition, and two years later wrote 
on the back of it : *' I did not yield to the wishes here 
expressed and, in consequence, have been persecuted ever 
since. But I have kept a good conscience in the matter. 



174 THE STORY OF ILLINOS 

and that repays me for all I have suffered or can suffer. 
I have sworn eternal opposition to slavery, and by the 
blessing of God I will never go back." 

Elijah Love joy was a rnan of such earnest convictions 
that he was not influenced in the least by this petition. He 
declared that the Constitution of the United States guar- 
anteed to all citizens the right to free speech, and to the 
freedom of the press, and that he should exercise those 
rights in denouncing the crime of slavery. 

Driven out of Missouri. The public became so in- 
censed with Lovejoy's utterances that an attempt w^as 
made to destroy his press, and he was asked to resign as 
head of the Observer. St. Louis at last became so hostile 
that plans were made for the removal of the press to 
Alton, Illinois, which had the first Abolition society in 
the state. They promised their support, and Lovejoy 
again assumed control of the paper. 

Lovejoy in Illinois. The press arrived in Alton on 
Sunday and, while it lay unguarded on the wharf, the 
boxes were broken open, and the pieces of the press 
thrown into the Mississippi river by slave owners. 

The citizens of Alton condemned this act at a public 
meeting, and raised funds for a new press. Mr. Lovejoy 
was still in favor of gradual emancipation, and would not 
declare himself an Abolitionist, though he said he was the 
*' uncompromising enemy of slavery." For almost a year 
the *' Alton Observer" was published, Lovejoy taking the 
same bold stand against slavery, yet treating all his oppo- 
ents fairly and with kindness. 

Becomes an Abolitionist. It was during the disap- 
pointment and persecution of this j^ear that he was won 
over to Abolitionism. This is shown by his statement : 



LOVEJOY AND THE ABOLITIONISTS 175 

''If a tree will not bear good fruit, it should be lopped 
off at the roots." 

Advocates an Anti-Slavery Society. AYhen he advo- 
cated, ill the Observer, the forniiiig of an Illinois Anti- 
Slavery Society, the wrath of his enemies knew no 
bounds. But Lovejoy was fearless. All over the north 
opposition to slavery was running high, and feeling 
against the Abolitionists was at a white heat throughout 
the slave holding section. 

Two days after Mr. Lovejoy 's article appeared, a 
public meeting was called ''for the suppression of Aboli- 
tionism." A committee was named to wait on Mr. Love- 
joy to express their disapproval of his course, and to 
ascertain if he still intended to persist in publishing an 
Abolition paper. Lovejoy replied by an editorial out- 
lining his anti-slavery principles in no uncertain terms. 

Mob Threatens. In August, 1837, a mob set out to 
tar and feather him. They met him coming to town from 
his home, stopped him and told him their purpose. Love- 
joy replied that he knew that they had power to do as 
they pleased with him, but he said he was going into 
town for medicine for his sick wife. He promised, how- 
ever, that if one of the party would take the prescription 
to the drug store and return with the medicine to his 
wife and reassure her about him, that he would go with 
them and do whatever they wished. At this they were 
ashamed to attack the brave man, but they did a more 
cowardly thing. They went to his office, broke in and 
destroyed his press and all his material. They believed 
this would stop the Abolition movement in Alton, but 
they were mistaken, for the friends and supporters of 
Lovejoy soon bought another press by subscription. It, 



176 THE STORY OP^ II.LINOIS 

too, was promptly destroyed the night it arrived, and the 
pieces thrown into the river. 

Love joy Refuses to Leave Alton. Discouraged by the 
fourth attempt to muzzle Lovejoy, and the destruction 
of his third press, the Abolitionists assembled and dis- 
cussed the advisability of moving the press to Quincy 
where there were more anti-slavery sympathizers, but 
Lovejoy thought the paper should stay at Alton. 

In this he was supported by the organization of fifty 
five men into a state Anti-Slavery Society. The pro- 
slavery men were frantic with anger when they knew 
that a fourth press had been ordered. Another public 
meeting w^as held at which Lovejoy made a pathetic ap- 
peal for protection. 

His Noble Appeal for Protection. He said, in part, 
**Mr. Chairman, it is not true, as has been charged upon 
me, that I hold in contempt the feelings and sentiments 
of this community in reference to the question that is now 
agitating it. But, sir, while I value the good opinions 
of my fellow citizens as highly as anyone, I may be per- 
mitted to say that I am governed by higher considera- 
tions than either the favor or fear of man. I plant myself 
down upon my constitutional right, and the question to 
be decided is whether I shall be protected In the enjoy- 
ment of these rights. That is the question, sir, whether 
my property shall be protected, whether I shall be suf- 
fered to go home to my family at night without being 
assailed, threatened with tar and feathers and assassina- 
tion ; whether my afflicted wife, w^hose life has been in 
continual jeopardy from alarm and excitement, shall, 
night after night, be driven from her sick bed into the 
garret to save herself from brickbats and the violence 




THE LOVEJOY MONUMENT, ALTON 



LOVEJOY AND THE ABOLITIONISTS 177 

of the mob.* * =* i know, sir, that you can tar and 
feather nie, hang me or put me in the Mississippi without 
the least difficulty. But what then? Where shall I go? 
I have concluded, after consulting with my friends and 
earnestly seeking counsel of God, to remain in Alton 
and here insist on protection in the exercise of my rights. 
If the civil authorities refuse to protect me, I must look 
to God, and, if I die, I am determined to make my grave 
in Alton." 

The Fourth Press Arrives. The courage of this man 
should have moved even his enemies, but the feeling 
against him was too bitter. When the fourth press ar- 
rived in Alton, the mayor of the city detailed a body of 
private citizens to protect it. It was removed to the 
warehouse of Godfrey, Oilman & Co., at two o'clock at 
night and placed on the fourth floor. 

All was quiet during the day, and, at evening, the 
militia band of about sixty came together at the ware- 
house to drill. They were ready to disperse about nine 
o'clock, when Mr. Oilman suggested that it might be 
safer to leave a detail all night. Mr. Oilman and Mr. 
Lovejoy stayed with the twenty men who remained. 

Another Angry Mob. Shortly afterward the mob ap- 
peared. Two men were sent in with the message that no 
one would be harmed if the press were handed over to 
them. When these messengers saw how weak the de- 
fense was, and when the militia refused to give up the 
press, the rabble attacked the building with stones and 
clubs. 

Lovejoy Slain. The militiamen recognized in the 
gathering crowd in the the bright moonlight below, their 
friends and neighbors, and hesitated to shoot, but they 
defended the building successfully for a time. Then one 



178 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

of the militiamen j&red and shot a man among the band, 
who died before they could reach a physician. At this, 
the rabble attempted to set fire to the building. Lovejoy 
and two others exposed themselves to protect the roof 
from fire-brands, and were fired upon from below. 
Wounded in five places, Lovejoy re-entered the building, 
and crying *'I am shot,'* I am dead," fell to the floor and 
expired. 

The militia, to save the building and its contents, 
then surrendered the press which was broken inter 
pieces. During this battle the minister's wife had bravely 
rung the church bell, but no help came. 

His Burial. The next morning the body was removed 
from the warehouse and quietly buried on a hill-top, with 
almost no service, for fear of exciting the mob afresh. 
The hill later became a cemetery, and Lovejoy 's body was 
removed from the center of the street where it lay buried, 
and a simple tombstone was erected by a friend. 

The Wrath of the Country. A storm of indignation 
and sorrow swept over the whole country. Wendell 
Phillips, the great Abolitionist, speaking in Fanueil Hall, 
Boston, compared the courage of Lovejoy with that of 
the Eevolutionary heroes. He said the patriots were 
ready to die to defend themselves against unjust taxes 
and laws that touched their pocketbooks merely. Love- 
joy died for a great principle — the right to say, and 
preach, and write what he believed about the wrongs of 
slavery. 

Even the South condemned the outrage. Newspapers 
everywhere praised the hero who had died for the cause 
of liberty. But, it was fifty-eight years before the Illinois 
Legislature appropriated $25,000 for a suitable monument 
to Lovejoy 's memory. The people of Alton were proud 



LOVEJOY AND THE ABOLITIONISTS 179 

to add to this fund, and in the cemetery there, standing 
above his grave, may now be seen a beautiful shaft, the 
gift of a grateful people. 

It is said that the example of his life and the manner 
of his death did more to help Illinois to stand as one man 
for the cause of freedom, than any other influence. 



CHAPTER XVIII 
THE UNDERGROUND RAILWAY 

Anti-Slavery Societies in Illinois. The death of Love- 
joy did not silence the Abolitionists, but only added fuel 
to the flames. In fact, it drove many men of moderate 
views into the Abolitionist ranks. Anti-slavery societies 
were organized in exevy county in Illinois. They held 
quarterly meetings, engaged men to give public lectures, 
sent petitions to Congress, printed and circulated thou- 
sands of pamphlets, and stirred up the people in every 
way. 

The Underground Railway. The South demanded that 
the North should hush the fiery Abolitionists who, they 
said, were urging the slaves everywhere to rise against 
their masters. In some places rewards of from one to 
two thousands dollars were offered for the delivery, south 
of Mason and Dixon's line, of certain Abolition leaders. 
But all efforts to silence them were in vain. Many of the 
anti-slavery men banded together secretly to aid runawaj'- 
negroes to escape to Canada. This was called the Under- 
ground Railway. 

Why Slaves Were Dissatisfied. It was the policy of 
all plantation owners to keep their slaves in dense ignor- 
ance, so that they might not know about other states 



THE UNDERGROUND RAILWAY 181 

where inem])ers of their race were free. In most of the 
cotton states, it was unlawful for any one to teach a nee-ro 
to read or write. Thus it was hoped the slaves would 
spend their lives in the cotton fields contentedly. But, 
there were all over the South dissatisfied slaves. Some 
were unhappy because they had been mistreated by cruel 
slave drivers. Thousands stood in constant fear of being 
sold and separated from their families. Throughout the 
border states, there was a strong demand for slaves for 
the large sugar and cotton plantations of the far South. 
So, in these border states the negroes were especially 
eager to learn of places where they might be free. 

Slaves Learn about Canada. From northern people 
who visited the South, they heard much about the free 
States and about Canada. If a master could find his slave 
anywhere in the I"^nited States he had the right, by law, 
to seize the fugitive and take him back home ; but, if a 
runaway could get his foot on Canadian soil he was safe. 
Friends of the negro sometimes made journeys through 
the South for the very purpose of directing slaves how 
to escape to Canada. They told them how to recognize 
the north star, and advised them to go in that direction. 
"When stars were not shining they were instructed to 
look for moss which grows only on the north side of 
tree-trunks. Some followed river valleys or mountain 
ranges. 

How Runaways Traveled. They usually traveled by 
night, and remained in hiding during the day. Some 
used rowboats, and so for hundreds of miles, they left no 
track behind for the keen-scented bloodhound or the more 
dreaded slave catcher. A few reached the land of free- 
dom by being sent in boxes as merchandise. Now and 
then one was even sent in a trunk by express. Fre- 



182 THE STOKY OF ILLINOIS 

quentiy men dressed as women, and women in male at- 
tire, escaped the searching eyes of pursuers. Mulattoes 
often blacked their faces with burnt cork in order to 
escape recognition. Occasionally slaves in disguise rode 
on the same train with the men who were looking for 
them, and were not recognized. 

Origin of the Underground Railway. When the runa- 
ways reached the Ohio river and the free states beyond, 
they found friends. The name, Underground Eailway, 
first started in this way. "When runaway slaves began 
to appear among the Quakers at Columbia, Pennsylvania, 
plans were made to hide them away or to send them on 
toward Canada. Slave catchers usually had little trouble 
in tracking the slaves as far as that town, where they lost 
all trace. Unable to find out how the Quakers had dis- 
posed of the negroes, the pursuers declared that there 
must be an underground railway somewhere about, and 
so this name came into common use. 

The Railway System. The stations of the railway 
Avere farmhouses, the farmer was the conductor as well 
as the engineer, while his horses and wagon made up the 
train. There was a fine of five hundred dollars for har- 
boring a negro or aiding his escape, the fine later, 1850, 
being increased to one thousand dollars, with six months 
in prison. So it was necessary to run trains chiefly at 
night. Every man who was connected with this under- 
ground system kept it a secret. Suspected farmers were 
often closely watched by hired agents of the slave 
holders. 

The Underground in Illinois. The movement in Illi- 
nois started as early as 1818, the year the territory 
became a state, and by 1835 there were regular lines of 
travel from the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, northward 



THE UNDERGROUND RAILWAY 183 

toward Chicago and Milwaukee, where negroes were 
smuggled aboard boats bound for Canada. A few found 
homes among the Yankees of northern Illinois. One of 
these lines of travel was from Alton along the Illinois 
river to Chicago. 

Passengers Concealed at Stations. The negroes were 
concealed in one place, sometimes for a week, in order 
to throw their pursuers off the track. The hiding place 
was usually the cellar, the attic, or a secret room. When 
closely watched they resorted to a hay loft or a wood 
pile. At Galesburg, Illinois, the belfry of the church 
was used for this purpose. 

John Hood, of Sparta, aided a negro and his wife to 
escape from some slave catchers who had them in charge 
on the homeward journey, and who had stopped at Hood's 
house for the night. The negroes were locked up in the 
cellar by the kidnappers. During the night, Hood re- 
moved them to the center of a large haystack, where they 
were fed and concealed for a week. 

Trains Run at Night. Fugitives were sent on usually 
at night, either by wagon or afoot, with careful directions 
where to find their next friend, and how to signal him, 
by tapping on the window. Mr. John Weldon, of Dwight, 
took negroes to Chicago concealed in wagons loaded with 
bran. Often a load of hay or straw served as a blind 
at midday. In one case at Cincinnati, twenty-eight ne- 
groes appeared at one time, and several closed carriages 
were formed into a pretended funeral procession. Thus 
they safely proceeded northward in broad daylight. 

The underground lines were sometimes zigzag, and 
often there were two or three parallel routes, so that in 
case one was being watched the other could be taken by 
the fugitives. 



184 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

The Number of Slaves Aided. Great numbers were 
aided and directed to freedom by the Underground Rail- 
way. H. B. Leeper, of Princeton, Illinois, said his best 
record Avas aiding thirty-one men and women in 
SIX weeks. One conductor in Pennsylvania, during forty 
years, gave aid to no fewer than one thousand. There 
were no telegraph lines along the Underground, but mes- 
sages were often sent by mail. These messages were 
carefully written. Below are some specimens : 

''David Putnam: 

Business is arranged for Saturdaj^ night. Be on the 
lookout and, if possible, let a carriage come and meet 
the caravan. 

J. S." 
^'Mr. C. B. C: 

By tomorrow's evening mail you will receive two 
volumes of the "Irrespressible Conflict" bound in black. 
After perusal, please forward and oblige. Yours truly, 

G. W. W." 
"Dear Grinell: 

Uncle Tom says that if the roads are not too bad you 
can look for those fleeces of wool by tomorrow. Send 
them on to test the market and prices. No back pay. 

Yours, 
HUB." 



CHAPTER XIX 

THE GREAT DEBATES 

Douglas Explodes a Bomb. On January 4, 1854, 
Stephen A. Douglas, senator from Illinois, introduced 
into Congress a bill which startled the whole country. 
This Kansas-Nebraka Bill provided for the forming of 
two territories out of that part of the Louisiana Purchase 
which lay west and north of Missouri. There w^as no 
harm to come from this provision, but the bill further 
provided that each of the two territories so formed, 
should decide for itself whether or not slavery should 
exist within its borders. This was the bomb that ex- 
ploded in every northern state. The reason for this 
excitement was, that for more than thirty years, most 
people of the North had looked upon slavery in the 
Louisiana Purchase as forever prohibited. The Missouri 
Compromise of 1820, had provided that slavery should 
never exist north of the parallel, of 36 degrees, 30 minutes, 
north latitude, save in the state of Missouri. This com- 
promise the northern people had looked upon as a sacred 
agreement, and they had consoled themselves that, what- 
ever might happen, slavery could not go north of that 
forbidden line of '' thirty-six thirt3^" Now, suddenly, like 



186 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

thunder from a clear sky, Douglas proposed to throw 
open this territory, all of which lay north of the Com- 
promise line, to slavery or freedom, as the people might 
decide. It was like throwing a piece of meat to two 
hungry bull-dogs, and bidding them fight for it. 

The Kansas-Nebraska Bill Passes Congress. Nobody 
had asked Douglas to introduce such a measure. The 
South had not sought it. The North had not consented. 
In fact, Douglas himself had written the bill of his own 
motion, in his own house, and had consulted with only two 
people about it, the President, and Jefferson Davis. The 
South was surprised, because they had not even hoped for 
slavery in this great northwest. However, they were 
delighted at the prospect, and quickly fell into line be- 
hind Douglas. The bill was passed, after Douglas had 
spoken all night in defense of his measure. 

Douglas Visits His Home State. A storm of rage 
swept over the North. Douglas was condemned as a 
traitor. He was called Judas Iscariot, and a certain so- 
ciety of women sent him thirty pieces of silver. He later 
said he could have traveled from Boston to Chicago by 
the light of his own effigies. Attempting to make a 
speech in Chicago, in his home state, he w^as hooted off 
the stage. For hours he tried to speak, but the people 
hissed and shouted until Douglas gave it up. Had it 
not been for his courage, the people would have laid 
violent hands upon him. In southern Illinois he had a 
kinder reception, but outside his own state he w^as bitterly 
denounced by the newspapers, public assemblies, legisla- 
tures and private citizens. 

Why Douglas Favored the Slave Holders. What do 
you think prompted Douglas, a northern man, represent- 



THE GREAT DEBATES 18/ 

ing a free state, to join hands with the South in extending 
slavery'/ The people said he did it in order to win 
friends among the southern slave holders, so that they 
would help to elect him President. He had tried to get 
the nomination in 1852. All the northern Democrats 
favored him at that time, but the southern Democrats 
would not hear to it, and Douglas failed. Many believed 
he was now sacrificing the welfare of the North, as a 
bid for votes in the South for the coming election. If 
this was his plan, it looked as though he was doing what 
he set out to do, for the whole land of Dixie resounded 
with his praises, but it was two years before the next 
election. 

In the meantime, civil war broke out in Kansas over 
the question of slavery in that territory. The country, 
both North and South, was greatly wrought up over 
''bleeding Kansas," and Douglas had to bear the brunt 
of blame for it, since it was his bill that made Kansas a 
battle-ground. 

When the next Democratic convention came, Douglas 
was in high hopes, but he was again put aside for a north- 
ern Democrat, Buchanan. However, he came much nearer 
the goal than four years before. He had gained many 
votes in the southland, but not quite enough to be nomi- 
nated by his party. This must have been a keen disap- 
pointment to Douglas, for he had thrown open a vast 
region, hitherto free, to slavery to please the South. He 
had gone through fire and water to defend himself from 
the angry North— all to win favor with the slave holders. 
Now he was coldly put aside for one less worthy. 

Slave Holders Try to Force Slavery upon Kansas. The 
pro-slavery men in Kansas soon got together and made a 
constitution favoring slavery. They would not let the 



188 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

people of the territory vote on it fairly, so the free-soil 
people there refused to vote on it at all. The pro-slavery 
men declared it adopted, and asked Congress to admit 
Kansas as a slave state. The southern Democrats were 
eager to do this, and so was President Buchanan, while 
the Republicans and anti-slavery men were boiling in 
anger. But the Democrats were in the majority, and 
were about to admit Kansas when Douglas interfered. 
He told his party that the Kansas election was not fair, 
and that there were frauds in it. He insisted on giving 
the Kansans another chance, and a fair chance, to vote 
on this constitution. Douglas said he cared not whether 
slavery was voted up or voted down, but, that for an hon. 
est election, he would stand to the last. 

''Superb fighter that he was, he had a fighter's best 
opportunity — great odds to fight against, and at last a 
good cause to fight for. President Buchanan threaten- 
ingly reminded Douglas that 'no Democrat ever broke 
with a Democratic administration without being crushed. ' 
Douglas scornfully retorted, 'Mr, President, I wish to 
remind you that Greneral Jackson is dead.' The whole 
south, so lately reciting his praises, rose up against him 
and reviled him as a traitor." They accused him of 
deserting them in order to make sure of his re-election 
as Senator from Illinois. But few of his fellow Demo- 
cratic Senators had the courage to follow him. So mag- 
nificent was his fight, that almost single-handed, he forced 
the great slave power to send back to Kansas her slave 
constitution, with permission to vote on it again. In this 
second election, which was fair, the people of Kansas 
voted slavery down five to one. 

A Warm Welcome Home. There was rejoicing all 
through the North over the victory for freedom in Kansas, 



THE GREAT DEBATES 189 

and Douglas was highly praised for insisting upon honesty 
and fair play. Upon his return to his home state to stand 
for re-election as Senator, Chicago gave him a royal 
welcome. 

He realized that he would have a hard fight when he 
heard who was to be his opponent, for the Republicans 
had enthusiastically named Abraham Lincoln as their 
candidate. Douglas feared Lincoln more than he did the 
ablest men in AVashington. 

Lincoln's Stand on Slavery. The speech that Lincoln 
made when he was nominated for Senator against the 
''Little Giant" Avon for him wide fame. ''A house di- 
vided against itself, ' ' he said, ' ' cannot stand. " ' ' I believe 
this government cannot endure permanently half-slave 
and half-free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved, 
I do not expect the house to fall, but I do expect it will 
cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all 
the other." This was a bolder stand than his party 
wished him to take. When he read this speech privately 
to his friends before he gave it in public, they all, save 
one, disapproved of these sentences and urged him to 
leave them out. His party managers told him these 
words would hurt his chances of election. Lincoln re- 
plied, "If it is decreed that I should go down because of 
this speech, then let me go down linked with the truth — 
let me die in the advocacy of what is just and right. * 
* * I would rather be defeated with this expression in 
the speech than be victorious without it." 

Lincoln Challenges Douglas to a Debate. Lincoln 
awaited Douglas's arrival at Chicago, heard his speech 
and answered him the next night. He followed Douglas 
into the center of the state, and challenged him to a series 
of joint debates before the people of Illinois on the ques- 



190 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

tions of the day, chief of which was slavery extension. 
Douglas would rather have faced any other man in 
America than Lincoln. He hesitated, then accepted the 
challenge. 

The *' Rail-splitter" against the ** Little Giant." Lin- 
coln's friends trembled for the result, for Douglas was 
known all over the country as the ablest off-hand speaker 
and debater to be found. He had met and defeated all 
the great statesmen in Congress. Dashing, brilliant leader 
that he was, he had become the idol of the masses. Lin- 
coln was scarcely known outside of his own Prairie State, 
and his followers were yet few. He knew the marvelous 
power of his opponent as an orator, and the great risk 
he himself was facing, but he felt that he had truth and 
justice on his side, and he believed that he could hold 
his own. 

Douglas in Hard Straits. Lincoln had no fame to lose, 
but everything to gain, while Douglas had a national 
reputation. Besides, he wished to fasten his grip on the 
senatorship until he could again make the race for Presi- 
dent, and he dared not forget that the entire South was 
hearing every word and watching every move. Douglas 
represented an old party with old theories, while Lincoln 
was put forward by a new and enthusiastic party that 
stood for freedom and against slavery. 

Side by side, on wooden platforms, in the open air, 
stood the great rivals, with farmers by the thousand 
gathered to hear them. There stood ''Honest Old Abe," 
lean, long-limbed, and awkward, and by his side the 
"Little Giant," scarce five feet high, but compactly built 
and full of energy. Lincoln's voice was high pitched, 
strained and unpleasant, while the voice of his opponent 
was that of a trained orator. In gesture and manner. 



THE GREAT DEBATES 



191 



too, Douglas had the advantage, for Lincoln was stiff 
and ungraceful. In language Douglas was bold, fluent, 
and severe. Lincoln's speech was simple, forceful, and so 
logical that Douglas could neither dispute nor evade its 
truth. Many had thought that Douglas would make 




LINCOLN REPLYING TO DOUGLAS 
(From an old print) 

short work of the "Rail-splitter," but it was evident that 
he had at last met his match. At the close of the first 
debate at Ottawa, Lincoln was carried away on the 
shoulders of his rejoicing admirers. 

Lincoln's Shrewd Questions. In five cities these 
giant debaters met, while the whole country was reading 
their speeches. They put questions to each other to be 



192 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

answered before the people. Lincoln so framed his ques- 
tions on slavery that Douglas would either have to please 
the people of Illinois and displease the South, in which 
case he would never be elected President ; or he must 
please the South and displease his home state, in which 
case he would lose the senatorship. Douglas answered 
as Lincoln thought he would, won the senatorship, but 
disappointed the slave states; and thus his chances of 
some time living in the White House were forever ruined. 

Lincoln Champions the Negro. Douglas accused 
Lincoln of trying to make the slave the equal of the 
white man. In reply Lincoln said, "There is no reason 
in the world why the negro is not entitled to all the 
natural rights enumerated in the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, the right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness. I hold that he is as much entitled to tlicse as 
the white man. I agree with Judge Douglas, that he is 
not my equal in mau}^ respects — certainly not in color, 
perhaps not in moral and intellectual endowments. But 
in the right to eat the bread, without leave of anyone 
else, which his own hands earn, he is my equal, and 
the equal of Judge Douglas, and the equal of every living 
man. All I ask for the negro is that if you do not like 
him, let him alone. If God gave him but little, that little 
let him enjoy." 

The chief difference between the views of Lincoln 
and those of Douglas was in regard to slavery in the ter- 
ritories. Douglas stood for the principle of "Popular 
Sovereignty," as expressed in his Kansas and Nebraska 
Bill — that is, that the people of each territory should de- 
cide for themselves, when their territory entered the 
LTnion, whether or not they should have slavery. Lincoln 
held that since slavery was a great evil, it ought not to 



THE GREAT DEBATES 193 

be allowed to spread over the territories. It should, he 
thought, be confined to the fifteen slave states where it 
then existed, with the hope that it would some day die 
out eatirely. 

Lincoln's Defeat and Victory. While Lincoln failed 
to defeat Douglas for Senator, he was beaten by but a 
few votes. The ''Rail-splitter" suddenly awakened to 
find himself famous throughout the land. Invitations 
came to him from all the great cities of the North to lec- 
ture, and in this way he became well known, and a most 
promising candidate for the Presidency. 



CHAPTER XX 
NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF LINCOLN 

The Debates Make the *' Rail-splitter" Famous. One 

of the first men among Lincoln's friends to believe it 
possible to nominate him for President, was Jesse W. Fell, 
who had been traveling in the East during the time of 
the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Finding that Lincoln's 
speeches attracted so much attention everywhere, and that 
they were copied by many eastern papers. Fell returned 
to Springfield to urge Lincoln to make the race for the 
Presidency. 

"I have been East, Lincoln," said he, ''as far as Bos- 
^Qj^ # * * traveling in all the New England states, 
save Maine ; in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
Ohio, Michigan and Indiana, and everywhere, I hear you 
talked about. Very frequently I have been asked, *Who 
is this man Lincoln, of your state now canvassing in op- 
position to Senator Douglas.' * * * i usually told 
them we had in Illinois two giants instead of one; that 
Douglas was the little one, as they all knew, but that 
you were the big one, which they didn't at all know.' " 



NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF LINCOLN 195 

Lincoln Doubts. "What's the use of talking of me 
for the Presidency," was Lincoln's reply, "whilst we have 
such men as Seward, Chase and others who are so much 
better known to the people. * * * Everybody knows 
them, nobody scarcely, outside of Illinois, knows me." 

Fell continued his appeal, asking Lincoln to furnish a 
sketch of his life which could be printed in eastern 
papers. "Fell," he said, rising and wrapping his old 
gray shawl around his tall figure, "I admit that I am 
ambitious and would like to be President. I am not 
insensible of the compliment you pay me ; * * * but 
there is no such good luck in store for me as the Presi- 
dency of these United States. Besides, there is nothing 
in my early history that would interest you or anybody 
else ; and as Judge Davis says, 'it won't pay,' good night." 
His Friends Determined. Throughout the year 1859, 
a few of Lincoln's life-long friends worked quietly to 
arouse the Prairie State for "Honest Abe." It was ar- 
ranged first to have the country newspapers come out 
one by one for Lincoln. Later, city papers were to take 
up his cause. Soon Lincoln began to receive offers of 
aid from unexpected quarters. In reply to one editor 
he wrote: "I must in all candor say I do not think my- 
self fit for the Presidency." Early in 1860, so many 
were urging him that he became convinced that, fit or 
not, he was in the race and he consented to write the 
little sketch now known as his autobiography. 

A Modest Biograph. "I was born February 12, 1809, 
in Hardin County, Kentucky. * * * My father re- 
moved from Kentucky to what is now Spencer County, 
Indiana, in my eighth year. * * * There I grew up. 
There were some schools, so called, but no qualification 



196 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS. 

was ever required of a teacher beyond readin,' writin,' 
and eipherin' to the rule of three. I have not been to 
school since. I was raised to farm work, which I continued 
until I was twenty-two. At twenty-one, I came to Illinois, 
]\Iacon Count3\ Then I got to Salem County, where I 
remained a j^ear as a sort of clerk in a store. Then came 
the Black Hawk war, and I was elected a captain of 
volunteers, which gave me more pleasure than any I 
have had since. I ran for the Legislature the same year, 
1832, and was beaten, the only time I have ever been 
beaten by the people. In 18-16 I was elected to the Lower 
House of Congress. * * * j ^yas losing interest in 
politics when the repeal of the Missouri Compromise 
(Kansas-Nebraska Bill) aroused me again. What I have 
done since is pretty well known. I am in height six feet 
four inches, nearly ; lean in flesh, weighing on an average 
one hundred and eighty pounds; dark complexion, with 
coarse, black hair and gray eyes." 

''There is not much of it," he apologized as he sent 
the sketch in, "for the reason, I suppose, that there is 
not much of me. If anything be made out of it, I wish 
it to be modest, and not to go beyond the material." 

A Quiet Maneuver. Another of Lincoln's friends now 
carried through a shrewd little scheme, the importance 
of which few realized. It was this. He managed to have 
the National Republican convention called to meet in 
Chicago. The advantage of this we shall soon see. 

The Illinois Convention. When the Illinois Republi- 
cans held their state convention at Decatur, on May 9th 
and 10th, 1860, Lincoln received a strange ovation. While 
the delegates were in session, Lincoln came in to look 
on and was invited to a seat on the platform. Soon after 
one of his friends offered a contribution to the conven- 



NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF LINCOLN 197 

tion, Aviiich was accepted. A curious banner made of 
two fence-rails decorated with flags, was borne up the 
hall. On it was this inscription: 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

THE RAIL CANDIDATE 
FOR PRESIDENT IN 1860 



Two rails from a lot of 3,000 made in 1830 by Thos 
Hanks and Abe Lincoln — whose father was the first 
pioneer of Macon County. 



The convention wildly applauded this banner, and 
shortly after Lincoln was enthusiastically named as the 
choice of the Republicans of Illinois for President. 

Too Inexperienced for the East. Eastern men did not 
yet consider Lincoln seriously. They made long lists of 
suitable candidates for President, but made no mention 
of Lincoln. A few had read his speeches, but because 
he was a great debater was no proof that he would make 
a good President. The East naturally preferred a man 
with more experience as a statesman. 

The National Convention. The National Republican 
Convention opened in Chicago on May 16, 1860. For days 
before, delegates, politicians, and newspaper men were 
thronging the pioneer city. The friends of each candi- 
date brought along a big crowd of his men, hired to 
march and to cheer at everv mention of their favorite. 



198 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS. 

New York brought 2,000 to applaud the name of Seward. 
A celebrated band accompanied each state delegation. 
Hundreds of spectators flocked hither, until there were 
said to be 40,000 strangers in the city during the conven- 
tion. Processions, with bands at their heads, marched 
the streets with banners and hissing rockets, shouting for 
Seward, for Cameron, for Chase, or for Lincoln. Illinois 
was not to be outdone. Lincoln banners floated across 
the streets and upon prominent buildings. When Lin- 
coln's friends saw the great crowd of ''rooters" for 
Seward they gathered together 10,000 "Hoosiers" and 
''Suckers," everybody in Chicago with fog-horn voices, 
to march, shout, or fight for the "Rail-splitter." 

The Wigwam. The convention met in a rude struc- 
ture built especially for the occasion, by the Chicago 
Republican Club. In true western style, it was called the 
Wigwam. There were crowded into it at the opening 
of the convention 10,000 persons. As each candidate's 
name was introduced there was deafening applause by 
his followers. At the name of Lincoln, 5,000 people 
jumped from their seats with one wild yell. The Seward 
men were confident; but Lincoln shouters made the 
greater noise. As the roar died away a voice cried "Abe 
Lincoln has it by the sound now; let us ballot!" 

The Wild Balloting. There were eight other candi- 
dates besides Lincoln and Seward, and the Illinois work- 
ers tried to unite all those opposed to Seward to vote 
for Lincoln. They worked night and day to bring this 
about. 

The delegates proceeded to vote. On the first ballot 
Seward led with 173% votes, Lincoln being second with 
102. On the second ballot Pennsylvania threw her 52 
votes to Lincoln. Other scattering votes brought his gain 



NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF LINCOLN 199 

to 79, while Seward gained but 11. To win, required 234 
votes. All those opposed to Seward now began throwing 
their votes to *' Honest Abe," who received on the next 
ballot 231^. The excitement was intense, and every- 
body was keeping count. Instantly the chairman of the 
Ohio delegation shouted: ''Mr. President, I rise to change 
four votes from Mr. Chase to Mr. Lincoln." A mighty 
shout from ten thousand voices broke forth. Men leaped, 
tossed their hats and canes into the air, and the ladies 
waved a sea of flags and handkerchiefs. 

How the News Was Received. The Seward men were 
broken-hearted, and their leader, Thurlow Weed, burst 
into tears. A man on the platform shouted to one sta- 
tioned on the roof: '"'Hallelujah, Abe Lincoln is nomi- 
nated!" A cannon roared the news to the multitudes 
in the streets below who took up the shout. Whistles 
on the river, on locomotives and factories, broke forth 
and soon the prairies resounded with hurrahs, spreading 
gradually with the news' to other cities and states. 

"Hurrah for our cause — of all causes the best! 
Hurrah for old Abe, Honest Abe of the West!" 

News Telegraphed to Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln was in 
Springfield nervously awaiting the result, when suddenly 
a messenger boy rushed pell-mell into his office shouting, 
*'Mr. Lincoln, you are nominated!" The shout was taken 
up on all sides and people flocked about their hero, half- 
laughing and half-crying, shaking his hands when they 
could get them, and when they could not, one another's. 
Lincoln was overjoyed, but realizing what it all meant, 
he said, "My friends, I am glad to receive your con- 
gratulations, and as there is a little woman down on 
Eighth street who will be glad to hear the news, you must 



200 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

excuse me till I inform her." And off he hastened, only 
to find her already acquainted with the good tidings. 
Mrs. Lincoln for years had firmly believed that her hus- 
band deserved to be President, and that he would some 
day have that honor; and her faith was now being justi- 
fied. 

The Platform. Lincoln's party platform pronounced 
slavery an evil, and while denying any intention of inter- 
fering with it in the states where it then existed, de- 
manded that Congress prohibit it in all the territories. 
The Democratic Party Splits over Slavery. The 
Democrats held a convention and split in two sections 
over the question of slavery in the territories. The north- 
ern wing named Douglas as its candidate, and declared 
for popular sovereignty ; that is, that Congress must keep 
hands off and let the people of the territories vote slavery 
in or out. The southern wing again put Douglas aside 
because they advocated that nobody, not even the people, 
had a right to interfere with slavery in the territories; 
that it was the duty of Congress to protect it there. So, 
they named Breekenridge as their standard bearer. The 
break in the Democratic ranks made the election of Lin- 
coln a certainty, and the southern states prepared to 
break away from the Union to form a government of 
their own, with slavery as the chief corner stone. 

The Campaign of 1860. In Illinois every schoolhouse 
and grove resounded with stirring speeches and the music 
of bands. Our people seemed to give themselves up en- 
tirely to this great campaign. With two sons of Illinois 
in the contest, the Douglas and Lincoln men fought for 
every inch of advantage in this state, and when the votes 
were counted Douglas's great popularity was shown by 
his falling below Lincoln in his home state by only 13,000 



NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF LINCOLN 201 

votes in a total of 380,000 votes cast. 

Lincoln's Training. ]\Iauy thought Lincoln unfit for 
the great office, but his preparation was better than they 
knew. He had drunk the cup of poverty and associated 
with the poor. As farm-hand, as rail-splitter, as flat- 
boatman, as sawmill tender, as grocery-keeper, as militia- 
man, as surveyor, as lawj^er, as member of the legislature 
and congressman, Lincoln knew every phase of life and 
all classes of people, and they believed in him. He had 
known years of trial and disappointment, which was, in 
itself, fine training for the heavy load he was now to 
carry. 

Slave States Secede. Soon after Lincoln's election 
South Carolina seceded from the Union, followed quickly 
by six other slave states. Every lover of the flag was 
downcast, and the whole country looked anxiously to 
Lincoln with some hopes, but with many fears, for he Avas 
yet an untried man, and an aAvful burden lay upon his 
shoulders. 

Bids His Neighbors Farewell. Lincoln left Spring- 
field for Washington, February 11, 1861, and his friends 
and neighbors gathered about him at the station to bid 
him farewell. He addressed them briefly, saying: 

''My friends, no one, not in my situation, can appre- 
ciate my feelings of sadness at this parting. To this 
place, and the kindness of these people, I owe everything. 
Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed 
from a young to an old man. Here my children have 
been born and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing 
when or whether ever I may return, with a task before 
me greater than that which rested upon Washington. 
Without the assistance of that Divine Being who ever at- 
tended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance, I 



202 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS. 

cannot fail. Trusting in Him who can go with me, and 
remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us con- 
fidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care com- 
mending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend 
me, I bid you an affectionate farewell." 



CHAPTER XXI 
ILLINOIS IN THE WAR 
STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS 

Foresees Defeat and Pleads for Union. The split in 
the Democratic party made it impossible for either the 
northern or southern wing to elect their candidate, 
and Douglas realized, long before the election, that he 
could not win. When he heard during his tour of speech- 
making, that the Republicans were gaining strength in 
the North, he said, "Lincoln is the next President. I have 
no hope and no destiny before me but to do my best to 
save the Union from overthrow. Now let us turn our 
course to the South." 

He proceeded through the heart of the cotton states 
making speech after speech, appealing to the maddened 
southerners not to lift their hands against the Union their 
fathers had made. His plea was noble, full of patriotism 
and love for the old constitution, but the South would not 
hear. 

His Following. The November election, 1860, gave 
Lincoln 180 electoral votes, while Douglas had only 12, 
having carried but one state. But in the votes of the 
people, he was not far below Lincoln, whose total was 
1,866,452, while Douglas's was 1,376,957. 

No other stateman — not even Henry Clay— ever had 



204 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

a more devoted following than the "Little Giant," and 
these million voters looked to him for guidance. For 
twenty-five years, when he came before the people, Douglas 
had ncA^er suffered defeat. The great question of that 
hour was, whether he would swing these million follow- 
ers to the support of Lincoln and the Union, or whether 
the North was to be broken by party hatred and the 
South to be allowed to separate in peace. Douglas's atti- 
tude toward Lincoln was manly. When Lincoln arose to 
give his inaugural address, and was looking awkwardly 
about for a place to lay his hat that he might adjust his 
glasses, Douglas came forward and gracefully took it 
from his hand. This courteous act was taken to mean 
that he proposed to support Lincoln in defending the 
flag. 

A True Patriot. Defeat only served to show more 
clearly than before the nobleness and true patriotism of 
Douglas. He returned to Congress to labor night and day, 
in season and out of season, to save the Union. He 
begged and pleaded with the Republicans of the North 
and Democrats of the South, to adjust their differences 
by each side yielding a little. He said he was willing 
to give up his doctrine of ''Popular Sovereignty" 
and to restore the Missouri Compromise line, if that 
would satisfy both sections. The Republicans were will- 
ing to yield to every demand except slavery in the ter- 
ritories, but the stubborn slave power would yield not 
one inch of advantage. Southern men now withdrew 
from Congress to join the Confederate army, and rebel 
guns were soon trained at the Stars and Stripes above 
Fort Sumter. But Douglas did not live to see the end of 
the awful strife. 




STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS 



ILLINOIS IX THE AVAR 205 

''The Little Giant" Supports ''Honest Abe." Before 
the booming of the cannon died a^^•ay Douglas was 
closeted with Lincoln at the White House — the tAvo lead- 
ing men of the nation, both from Illinois — devising means 
of saving the country. One historian says that it was the 
"most momentous conference ever held on the western 
hemisphere." AYhat the former rivals said to each other 
in that critical hour we do not know, but from what oc- 
curred afterward Ave knoAV that Douglas promised to 
swing the entire northern wing of the Democratic party 
to the support of "Honest Abe" in saving the Union. 
Without this support Lincoln could not hope to hold the 
country together; with it, he not only saved the Union 
but blotted out the curse of slaA^ery from our soil. 

Urges North to Stand By the Flag. After the im- 
portant conference with President Lincoln, Douglas stat- 
ed his position to the ncAvspaper men, and it was pub- 
lished and read from ocean to ocean. He said that he 
Avas prepared to sustain the President in preserving the 
Union and maintaining the goA^ernment. He said that 
the Capital Avas in danger and must be defended at all 
hazards, and at any expense of men and money. Sena- 
tor Douglas immediately left Washington and traveled 
through the country, arousing the people AA'ith his oAvn 
loyal sentiments as no other man could. He Avas ncA^er be- 
fore so earnest, and had never before spoken Avith such 
powder. 

Douglas at Springfield. Douglas finally went to his 
own state capitol, and spoke .before both houses of the 
Legislature. The South, he claimed had no cause that 
Avould justify their "mad attempt to overthroAv the Re- 
public." He said he had labored for some compromise 
to avert Avar, but that noAv there Avas but one thing to 



206 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

do : "Forget party, remember only your country. Allow 
me to say to my old friends, that you will be false and 
unworthy of your principles, if you allow political defeat 
to convert you mto traitors. The shortest way now to 
peace is the most stupendous preparation for war " 

Douglas At Chicago. His Last Speech. From Spring- 
field, the ''Lzttle Giant' hastened to Chicago, wlLe a 
.ast crowd received him in the wigwam where Lincoln 
had been nommated. Again he urged all Americans, and 
h.s faithful Democrats especially, to stand by the Union. 
There are, he said, "only two sides to this question- 
every man must be for the United States or against it. * * 

waitors. I express it as my conviction before 

God, that It IS the duty of every American citizen to rally 
around the tlag of his country. * * * UH^oi, ,,g^ ; 
proud position,-united, firm, determined never to per- 
mit the government to be destroyed. * * » So long 
as hope of peace remained I pleaded and implored for 
compromise Now that all else has failed, there is but 
one course left, to rally as one man to the flag of AVash- 
mgton, Jefferson, Hamilton, Madison and Franklin " 
The great audience listened with breathless interest and 
again and again, broke into the wildest applause 

the lips of Douglas, they were telegraphed over the land 
and read by millions, from ocean to ocean. Thousands 
were awaiting the word of their leader, and no one can 
measure the part that Douglas had taken in uniting all 
Northerners to preserve and protect the flag. Douglas 
l.ved but a few months longer, but long enough o ee 
his supporters springing to arms and marching to 'he 
front. Less than three months after the firing upon Ft 



ILLINOIS IN THE WAR 207 

Sumter, Douglas lay upon his death bed at the Tremont 
House, Chicago, sending this last message to his sons 
who were far away: ''Tell them to obey the laws and 
support the Constitution of the United States^" These 
were his last Avords. 

RICHARD YATES 

Important Position of Illinois. The stand taken by 
Illinois in the war was of supreme importance. Our state 
extended farther south, and nearer to the heart of the 
''Cotton Kingdom" than any other free state, Cairo beuig 
in the same latitude as Richmond, Virginia. 

There were then almost no railroads running from 
north to south, and for transporting troops and supplies 
for the great armies, the Mississippi and its tributaries — 
the Ohio, Missouri, Tennessee and Cumberland — were of 
vast consequence. Whoever held Illinois would control 
all these waterways, by planting cannon at Cairo. For 
another reason Cairo was important. It was the southern 
terminus of the Illinois Central railroad. Here, too, was 
the natural starting point for Union armies going south. 

Moreover Illinois was bordered on two sides by the 
slave states of Kentucky and Missouri, and the action of 
our state toward the Union would exert a strong in- 
fluence on the stand of these two border slave states. 
So, it was evident that Illinois was the keystone of the 
Union in this conflict, and many were anxious to see if 
she would uphold the hands of her noble son in the 
White House. 

Loyalty of Governor Yates. In his inaugural address 
given three months before the fall of Fort Sumter, 



208 THE STOEY OF ILLINOIS 

Governor Richard Yates, of Illinois, said that the people 
of this great Mississippi valley would never consent to 
let any portion of it pass to any other government, and 
then be required to pay a tax on all goods sentl down 
this important waterway. ''Before that day shall come," 
he said, "the banks of the "Father of Waters" will be 
a continuous sepulcher of the slain." On the question 
of the union of the states, he declared that Illinois would 
stand firm. "The foot of the traitor has never yet 
blasted the green sward of Illinois. All the running 
waters of the Northwest are waters of freedom and union ; 
and come what will, as they glide to the great Gulf, they 
will by the Ordinance of 1787, and by the higher ordin- 
ance of Almighty God, bear only free men and free trade 
on their bosoms." 

Governor Yates took a bold, fearless stand for the 
Union, and by his patriotic words and vigorous deeds 
aroused the Prairie state, from the Wisconsin line to 
Cairo, to do its full share in putting down the rebellion. 

Illinois Answers the Call. When President Lincoln 
called for seventy-five thousand men to defend the flag, 
Governor Yates lost no time in summoning forth the sons 
of Illinois. Douglas men, and Lincoln men, forgot their 
differences, and hastened to enlist in the ranks. They 
came, too, in such numbers that our share of the call was 
soon filled, and many had to be turned away. 

The Secretary of War, realizing the importance of 
the control of Cairo for the Union, telegraphed Governor 
Yates to occupy that town as soon as he had mustered 
in enough troops to hold it. Our energetic war governor 
did not wait for the mustering of troops, but, in less 
than forty-eight hours, had a special train flying thither, 



ILLINOIS IX THE WAR 209 

bearing General Swift, of Chicago, with four batteries of 
artillery and six companies of infantry. They arrived 
none too soon, for a force of Confederates was moving in 
that direction. 

Southern Sympathy. You will remember that southern 
Illinois was settled mainly by immigrants from slave 
states. So, a good many people of our southern counties 
naturally sympathized with the South. AVhen the loyal 
people in one of those southern villages had called a 
meeting to enlist a company for the Union army, southern 
sympathizers rushed in upon the meeting, overpowered 
the Union men, tore up their flag, chopped down the flag 
pole they had just raised, and broke up their meeting. 

The Union men wrote to Governor Yates, asking what 
they should do about it. He told them to call another 
meeting, get a flag and a pole, and, if the disturbers again 
interfered, to kill as many of them as possible. "And if a 
jury can be found in Illinois that will convict any one of 
you for defending the flag of your country, I will par- 
don him." 

Under the patriotic leadership of Yates, Illinois sent 
into the field 259,000 men who were organized into 156 
regiments of infantry, seventeen of cavalry, and two of 
artillery. No other state furnished more, save Ohio and 
New York. 

It was Illinois troops mainly that prevented Missouri 
from going with the South ; it was largely Illinois troops 
that bore the brunt of battle in Grant's magnificent cam- 
paign for the possession the Mississippi, which broke the 
backbone of the South. 

Illinois at Shiloh. Illinois' share of the glory of these 
western campaigns may be well illustrated by the battle 



210 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

of Shiloli. A large percentage of the men in the ranks 
in this battle were from the Illinois prairies, and they 
I^rovecl themselves brave men. A large proportion of 
the men who carried the muskets, as well as those who 
wore the shoulder straps in that dreadful conflict, were 
from our own state. First among the Union generals at 
Shiloh, was Ulysses S. Grant, ably assisted b}^ generals 
]\IcClernand, Prentiss, Wallace, Hurlburt, McArthur and 
Stuart, — all from Illinois, and they were all heroes in that 
fight. The only aid to Grant who did not hail from our 
prairies was General Sherman. 

When news of the dreaded carnage at Shiloh readied 
Governor Yates, he at once chartered a steamboat, and was 
soon on his Avay to the battlefield with physicians, nurses 
and medical supplies, to care for the wounded. 

When the boat touched at Pittsburg Landing, the 
scene of battle, the soldiers had heard of the coming and 
mission of the governor, and wherever he appeared 
cheers went up for "Dick Yates the Soldiers' Friend." 
A thousand sick and wounded Illinois boys were soon 
carried on board the steamboat. Some could not yet 
be moved, so dangerously were they wounded, and their 
disappointment was pitiful. One poor fellow said bit- 
terly, that he would be entirely satisfied if he could only 
go home to die. When told that the governor was com- 
ing back for them, he asked: "Does the governor say 
he will come after us?" "He does," was the reply. 
"Then he will come," said the dying man, "Dick Yates 
never broke his word to a soldier." AMien the Governor 
returned this poor soldier was lying in his grave. Of all 
the many loyal state governors during the war, none 
were more patriotic, and untiring in supporting Lincoln 
than our own Governor — Richard Yates. 



ILLINOIS IN THE WAR 211 

JOHN A. LOGAN 

Logan's Boyhood. From childhood, John A. Logan 
lived on the borders of Kentneky and ^lissouri, in that 
extreme southern part of Illinois known as "Egypt". 
His father was a country doctor, and Logan grew up 
on a farm. Even as a boy, Logan believed in fair play, 
and always gave warning of what might be expected 
from him. Once, when the squirrels were destroying his 
father's corn, Logan was set to guarding the crop. He 
wrote out in his boyhish handwriting this notice and 
posted it on a tree by the corn-field : 



/ 


give notice to all the squirr 


els to 


keep 


out 


of 


this corn- 




field. 


If they 


don't 


keep 


out 


they 


ivill 


be 


shot. 








John 


A. 


Logan. 









A Douglas Democrat. Logan's mother was a native 
of the south, and his associates had always been southern 
people, or those of southern parentage. It was but 
natural that he should feel a sympathy with the south- 
land. Educated for the law, Logan early entered politics 
as a follower of Douglas, and was elected to Congress. 
He thought Lincoln and the Republicans had brought all 
the trouble on the country, and said so in strong 
language. 

Demands Free Speech for All. But Logan loved the 
Union and the old flag under which he had fought in 
the Mexican War, and appreciated the liberties guar- 
anteed by that flag, one of which w^as the right of free 



212 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS. 

speech. Though he disliked the Abolitionists, he thought 
they had a right to speak their opinions. Upon one oc- 
casion, when Owen Lovejoy the Abolitionist arose in Con- 
gress to make a speech against slavery, several south- 
erners shook their clenched fists in his face, and dared 
him to utter a sentence, at the peril of his life. Lovejoy 
insisted on the right of free speech, for which his brother 
had laid down his life at Alton, but the southerners only 
grew more excited. Suddenly, Logan appeared at Love- 
joy's side, saying, ''He is a representative from Illinois, 
the state that I was born in, and which I also have the 
honor to represent. He must be allowed to speak with- 
out interruption, otherwise I will meet the coward or 
cowards outside of his House, and hold them responsible 
for further indignities offered to Mr. Lovejoy." The 
fire-eaters knew that Logan meant what he said, and so 
took their seats and allowed Lovejoy to make his speech. 

Experiences a Change of Heart. In 1860, Logan was 
sent to Charleston to help nominate Douglas for the 
Presidency. Here he first saw the auction-blocks and 
slave-pens of the South, and he felt in his heart that 
slavery was wrong, and that he could no longer endorse 
it. 

Logan At Bull Run. "When the boys in blue and those 
in gray were marshaling their forces upon the battle- 
field of Bull Run, Logan left the halls of Congress and 
hastened to join the Union Army, where he fought that 
day as a private. When the northern army broke and 
ran, Logan tried to rally them, but his vigorous language 
did not stop them. He was among the last to leave the 
field. Someone asked who the soldier was vvith a silk 
hat, and was told that he was John A. Logan, Congress- 
man from Illinois. Logan then came home to follow the 




JOHN A. LOGAN 



ILLINOIS IN THE WAR 213 

flag, and if need be, to ''hew his way to the Gulf". He 
found many people in "Egypt" undecided whether to 
join the South or the North, but his loyalty led them all, 
save a few, into the Union Army. In fact his district 
furnished more Union soldiers, in proportion to its popu- 
lation, than any other in the whole country. 

Loyalty to the Union. But the ''Copperheads" and 
disloyal Democrats taunted Logan, calling him an Abo- 
litionist. He replied, "If loving the flag of our country 
and standing by it in its severest struggle — if that makes 
us Abolitionists then I am proud to be an Abo- 
litionist, and I wish to high Heaven that we had a million 
more .... The man that today can raise his voice against 
the Constitution, the laws of the Government, with the 
design of injuring it. . . .should, if I could pass sentence 
upon him, be hung fifty cubits higher than Haman, until 
his body blackened in the sun and his bones rattled in 
the wind". 

A Valiant Soldier. Logan soon took rank as our 
greatest volunteer soldier, and was held in high repute 
as a general. In battle he always sought the post of 
danger where the blows of death fell thickest. "Fearless 
as a lion, he was in every part of the field, and seemed 
to infuse every man of his command with a part of his 
own indomitable energy and fiery valor". Bareheaded, 
he often rode along the battle line, encouraging his men. 
Upon one occasion he was sitting upon his black stallion, 
too far in front of his command, when another general 
rebuked him for exposing himself. Logan replied that 
he didn't care a continental where he was, so long as 
he got into that fight. 

Remembers Faithful Veterans. After he had shown 
his splendid bravery on a score of battlefields, and the 



214 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

Union was saved, Logan came home to serve his State 
in the Senate. He never forgot, in the honors of later 
years, the battle-scarred patriots who had followed him 
to victory at Vicksburg, Chattanooga, and Atlanta. 



ULYSSES S. GRANT 

Unknown and Unsuccessful at Thirty-nine. When the 
war cloud darkened the sky in '61, there was working 
in a leather store in Galena, Illinois, a man who had 
graduated at West Point, and had served with honor in 
the Mexican war as a captain. But he had resigned to 
enter business life, in order to better provide for his 
family of six. He had tried various occupations — farm- 
ing, real estate, and politics, but in each he had failed. At 
last his father, disappointed at his son's failures, gave 
him this position as clerk in his store. This soldier's 
name was Captain Ulysses S. Grant. 

Captain Grant had resided in Galena almost a year, 
but few people knew him, because he lived such a quiet 
life. He talked so little that he has been called the 
"Silent Man." 

Back to the Army. The people of Galena were soon 
enlisting a company for the war, and knowing that this 
"Silent Man" had been a soldier, because he sometimes 
wore the only blue army overcoat in town, they called 
upon him to help organize the company. Captain Grant 
seemed to know so much about drilling, equipping and 
getting the boys ready for the war, that they offered to 
make him captain of their company ; but he declined, be- 
cause after his long service, he thought he ought not to ac- 




ULYSSES S. GRANT 



ILLINOIS IN THE WAR 215 

cept a lower command than that of colonel of a regiment. 
However, he agreed to go with the company to Spring- 
field, and to assist them until they were mustered into 
service. 

Goes Begging for a Regiment. At Springfield, he 
found Governor Yates' office thronged twenty rows deep 
with office-seekers. After days of waiting, Grant was ad- 
mitted to the Governor's presence to say that the ''Joe 
Daviess Guards," from Galena were ready to be mustered 
in, and that he would like to serve his state in some ca- 
pacity. The Governor simply said: *' I'm sorry to say, 
Captain, there is nothing for you to do now. Call again." 

Grant's bearing was not that of a trained soldier, and 
he was not in the habit of boasting of his ability. There 
was nothing to indicate to the Governor that this plain 
man had the qualities of a great general. Since no im- 
portant politicians were urging Grant's appointment, he 
was put aside for others, some of whom proved totally 
unfit for army office. 

His Loyalty. Grant departed from the governor's 
office sorely disappointed. He had left home with a slen- 
der purse, and was in no position to wait long. He said 
to a friend: ''I'm going home. The politicians have 
got everything here, there's no chance for me. I came 
down because I felt it my duty. The government edu- 
cated me, and I felt I ought to offer my services again. 
I have applied, to no result. I can't afford to stay here 
longer, and I'm going home." 

Rejected at Home— Applies Elsewhere. The Gover- 
nor, however, needed some experienced soldiers to help 
muster in the many companies now gathering at Spring- 
field, and he asked Grant to aid in this work. In muster- 
ing the Seventh District regiment. Grant made a favor- 



216 THE STOEY OF ILLINOIS 

able impression upon the men and officers. However, 
their colonel had already been appointed, and there was 
no chance here for him. It looked as though his home 
state would offer him no command, so he made his way 
to St. Louis. But Missouri had no place for him. He 
applied to the Governor of Indiana, with the same result, 
and he set out for Ohio, his native state, hoping to re- 
ceive a regiment of ''Buckeyes" to lead against the 
South, or to secure a place on the staff of General Mc- 
Clellan, a comrade of the Mexican w^ar, who now com- 
manded the Department of the Ohio. For two days. Grant 
tried to see McClellan at his headquarters in Cincin- 
nati, but failed. 

Appeals to Washington. Meantime, Grant had writ- 
ten to the AVar Department at Washington, but his letter 
was unanswered. The letter was somehow misplaced, and 
never reached the eyes of Lincoln nor the War Secretary. 
The government was in sore need of just such exper- 
ienced soldiers to organize and drill the raw armies, but 
such was the pressure for office that the wrong men of- 
ten got the responsible places. 

While in Cincinnati, Grant met an old boyhood friend 
who begged him to wait there while he himself went to 
Columbus. He told Grant there ought to be a command 
for him somewhere. 

Offered Two Regiments. When his friend returned 
from the Ohio capitol, with a commission appointing 
Grant colonel of the Twelfth Ohio regiment, he found the 
''West Pointer" already rejoicing over a telegram from 
Governor Yates, asking: "Will you accept the command 
of the Seventh District regiment?" Grant had already 
accepted the Illinois command, but Ohio almost robbed 
the Prairie State of the glory of sending to the front 



ILLINOIS IN THE WAR 217 

this man from Galena, who was destined to become the 
greatest Union general of the Civil War. 

Who Discovered Grant. Grant's appointment came 
about in this Avay. The Colonel of the Seventh District 
regiment, the Twenty-first Illinois, had lost control of his 
men. A bread riot broke out in the regiment and sol- 
diers had burned the guard house. The men were forag- 
ing among the farmers, stealing chickens and pigs. The 
disorderly behavior of the troop at last became unbear- 
able. Since the Colonel could not stop this rowdyism. 
Governor Yates decided that a change must be made. So 
he called the officers of the regiment before him to as- 
certain their choice for the position. Having seen a little 
of Grant, they expressed a strong preference for him, and 
the Governor gave him the appointment. Grant took 
hold of the command with energy, and was soon off to 
the war Avith the best disciplined regiment in the state. 
Lincoln shortly afterw^ard made Grant Brigadier Gen- 
eral, with headquarters at Cairo. 

Two Big Jobs. There were two great tasks for the 
LTnion army to do, in order to conquer the seceded states 
and save the Union. The first one was to capture the 
rebel forts along the Mississippi. This would open this 
great river to L^nion boats Avith their soldiers and pro- 
visions, and it Avould cut the South into two parts. The 
other task Avas to capture Richmond, the rebel capital. 

Grant Opens the Mississippi. Lincoln gave Grant a 
large army and a fleet of gunboats, and told him to haul 
down the rebel flags along the Mississippi, and this un- 
flinching fighter set out to do it. He captured the forts, 
Henry and Donelson, defeated a great rebel army at 
Shiloh, and completed the job by starving them out of 
Vicksburg. 



218 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Saves a Starving Army. Meantime, the Confederate 
General Bragg had cooped up and surrounded a large 
Union army under Rosecrans, in Chattanooga, and was 
starving them into surrender. Since Grant had not thus 
far failed in a single undertaking, Lincoln called upon 
him to rescue the starving Union men. The sturdy fighter 
from Galena made short work of it. He soon carried pro- 
visions to the hungry troops, and sent the rebels flying 
southward with General Sherman in pursuit. 

The Other Task Still Undone. For three long years, 
Lincoln had been looking for a general who could whip 
Robert E. Lee and capture Richmond. General after 
general, with immense armies had tried it, only to fail. 
McClellan, McDowell, Burnside, Hooker, and Meade, each 
in turn, marched upon Richmond, but Lee with a smaller 
army drove them back one by one, and himself had threat- 
ened the city of Washington. 

Succeeds George Washington. Congress now created 
the high office of Lieutenant General, a position hitherto 
held only by George Washington. Lincoln promptly 
gave this great command to Grant, turned over to him 
the control of all the Union armies, and sent him after 
Lee. For months Grant hammered aAvay at Lee's forti- 
fications, saying that he would fight it out on that line if 
it took all summer. He finally made it so hot for that 
famous general that he abandoned Richmond and re- 
treated, only to be surrounded by Grant and forced to 
surrender. 

Within four years, nearly half a million men went to 
their graves, that the Union might be preserved and the 
nation freed from slavery. Boys and girls of Illinois may 
take just pride in knowing that no other soldier con- 



ILLINOIS IN THE WAR 219 

tributed so much to that mighty achievement as the 
modest clerk of Galena, who was almost unknown, even 
among his own townsmen, when the war began. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

What the People Thought of Abraham Lincoln. The 

world knew little of the splendid character of Lincoln 
and of his ability to manage men when he entered the 
White House. The South heaped abuse and ridicule upon 
the ''Black Republican President," while even the North 
had many doubts, because he was yet untried. Many 
northerners believed that Lincoln would never be any- 
thing but the tool of Chase or Seward, or whoever proved 
the strong man in his cabinet. 

The Shrewdness and Foresight of Lincoln. When 
Lincoln went to Washington, the South thought there 
would be no war because the North was not united on 
the slavery question, and not likely to be. But Abraham 
Lincoln was a far-sighted man. In his inaugural address 
he put slavery in the background and made the Union 
first. About slavery, he simply said he had no right and 
no inclination to interfere with it in the states where it 
existed, but that he meant to prevent its spread to the 
territories. The Union he would maintain. 

Sometime afterward, Lincoln made this reply to the 
fault-finding Horace Greely : ''My paramount object in 
this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save 
or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without 
freeing any slave I would do it; and, if I could save it 
by freeing all the slaves I would do it ; and, if I could 



220 THE STORY OF ILLLINOIS 

save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would 
also do that. What I do about slavery and the colored 
race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union ; 
and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe 
it would help to save the Union. * * * i shall adopt 
new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views." 
The shrewd Lincoln thought he might not be able to unite 
the North and bring it to the fighting point on the ques- 
tion of slavery, but he believed that all Northerners 
loved the Union and the flag, and for these they would 
fight. 

Afraid to Strike First. The South did not want a 
war, least of all did they want to strike the first blow. 
In any fight, it always looks bad for the party that strikes 
first, unless he has right on his side. The South were not 
sure of having a just cause for war, so they hoped if there 
must be a fight that Lincoln would begin it. 

Now, '^ Honest Abe" was far too wise to make that 
mistake. He believed, if the South first fired upon the 
fiag without good cause, the North would rise as one 
man to avenge the insult. Besides, it would put the South 
in a bad light with foreign countries from whom they 
expected help, and with the border slave states that had 
not yet left the Union. So, Lincoln played a waiting 
game. "Week after week he waited patiently for the 
South to fire the first gun. Many began to criticise the 
President for his attitude of delay, but Lincoln knew 
what he was about. 

Attempts To Get Sumter Without a Battle. The 
South held nearly every fort in their territory except 
Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor. They had again and 
again summoned its brave commander. Captain Anderson, 
to give it up, but he told them he did not propose to 



ILLINOIS IN THE WAR 221 

haul down the Stars and Stripes unless Lincoln ordered 
him to do so, that, if they got that fort, they would have 
to fight for it. Being unwilling to fire the first gun, they 
sent commissioners to Washington to prevail upon Lin- 
coln to give up Sumter. They found that Lincoln had 
made up his mind to do no such thing. So they went 
to Secretary Seward whom they considered the real Presi- 
dent. 

Seward, who had perhaps done more than any other 
anti-slavery man to provoke the war, now weakened and 
said he was in favor of giving up Ft. Sumter. He told 
Lincoln so. Everybody, even General Scott, advised the 
President to abandon Sumter, but the people now found 
out Avho was President. 

Lincoln the Real President. Supplies in the fort were 
low, and could last but a few days. There w^as no way 
of reaching it but by water, for the rebels had surrounded 
it with an army, and were in high hopes that Anderson 
would soon have to leave it or starve. 

Lincoln now informed the South that he meant to 
send food to the fort, but he would not send ammunition 
nor men. The southern men could no longer restrain 
themselves. Unable to get possession in any other way, 
and being unw^illing to see it provisioned, the rebels 
opened fire upon the Stars and Stripes. After holding 
out grandly for thirty-six hours, Anderson surrendered. 
Lincoln immediately called for 75,000 men to defend th»^ 
flag, and now the united North responded with 300,000. 
It was the supreme patience and good judgment of 
''Honest Abe" that united the North and saved the 
border states. 

His Cabinet. One of the hardest tasks Lincoln had 
was choosing his cabinet advisers. He wanted the strong- 



222 THE STOKY OF ILLINOIS 

est men in the country to help him guide the ship of state, 
so the people would have confidence in him and stand 
by him; he wanted, so far as possible, to get men who 
believed as he did, so he might have harmony in his offi- 
cial family. But, he put the Union above everything else, 
and determined to do a risky thing — to take into the 
cabinet four men who had been his rivals. Seward, Chase, 
Bates, and Cameron had all been candidates against him 
at Chicago, and now he asked them to be his advisers. 
Nobody thought Lincoln could manage them or hold them 
together. They had little respect for the "Rail-splitter."' 
Each one expected to be the ''boss," but they did not 
yet know Abraham Lincoln. 

Lincoln's Forgiving Spirit. It made no difference to 
the great-souled Lincoln whether these statesmen had 
slighted or mistreated him, if they could only help him 
save the Union. Stanton had gone about the country 
saying many bitter things. He had called Lincoln ''Old 
Ape," "Ignorant Baboon," and "The Original Gorilla," 
and, he even said that the new President was neither 
honest nor patriotic, that he had mismanaged things 
terribly. 

Now, Lincoln soon needed a strong man to take Cam- 
eron's place as Secretary of War, and he came to the 
conclusion that Stanton was the best man he could find. 
He thought Stanton was able and loj^al to the Union; 
besides, the people believed in him, so he was called into 
Lincoln's cabinet. Stanton continued to be haughty 
and overbearing toward the President, but Lincoln pa- 
tiently endured the slights. 

Once when Lincoln was entertaining his log-cabin 
cousin, Dennis Hanks, in the White House, this simple, 
quiet guest became disgusted with the self-importance 



ILLINOIS IN THE WAK 223 

of Stanton and urged Lincoln "to kick the frisky little 
Yankee out." But Lincoln replied: "It would be diffi- 
cult to find another man to fill his place." The lion- 
hearted Stanton, however came at last to appreciate the 
greatness of Lincoln. When the President lay dead, 
pierced by the assassin's bullet, Stanton looked upon the 
body, saying, "Now he belongs to the ages." "Lincoln," 
he later declared, "was the most perfect ruler of men the 
world has ever seen." 

The Self-importance of McClellan. While the Great 
Debates were going on in 1858, George B. McClellan, then 
Vice-President of the Illinois Central Railroad, refused 
Lincoln the most common courtesy, though he took Doug- 
las about in a private car with a special train. A few 
years later when Lincoln was looking about for the 
best general for the Army of the Potomac, he put aside 
his own feelings and gave the great command to McClel- 
lan. And Lincoln stood by this arrogant general when 
the whole country was condemning him for not fighting. 
McClellan, however, continued to treat Lincoln with con- 
tempt. On one occasion when the President went to McClel- 
lan 's residence inAVashington to discuss important matters, 
the haughty general kept Lincoln waiting for hours 
while others were given audience. Later when the whole 
country had become disgusted with McClellan 's delay, 
Lincoln took affairs into his own hands and ordered 
McClellan to set his army in motion, and he had to obey. 

Father Abraham Frees the Slave. When the time came 
that Lincoln thought he could help the cause of the Union 
by setting the slaves free, he called his cabinet together. 
He told those great statesmen that he had decided to free 
the slaves. He said he did not wish their advice as to 
whether or not he should do this, for he had already prom- 



224 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

ised it both to himself and to his Maker, but he would like 
their opinions as to how best to put his proclamation 
into effect. Then, with a stroke of his pen, he freed four 
million slaves. So it was with almost every great question 
that came up. Lincoln always listened to the advice of his 
cabinet and everybody else, but he had usually made up 
his mind beforehand after a careful consideration, and 
he seldom changed his plans. 

Bearing the Nation's Burdens. During the darkest 
days of the war, when the northern armies had met with 
severe defeat and terrible loss of life at Chancellorsville, 
or Fredericksburg, and when there was mourning in 
almost every home in the land, President Lincoln was 
bearing an awful load of care and sorrow. It was then 
that everybody was criticising and blaming him. Dele- 
gation after delegation, committee after committee, went 
to Washington to protest about something, and Lincoln 
with his mind weighed down and his hands already full, 
had to listen patiently to all this petty and unjust criti- 
cism. 

To a body of clergymen who came to complain and to 
tell him how the war ought to be managed, Lincoln said : 
'' Gentlemen, suppose all the property you were worth 
was in gold and you had put it in the hands of Blondin 
(the famous tight-rope walker) to carry across the Niaga- 
ra river on a rope. Would you shake the cable, or 
keep shouting at him, ''Blondin, stand up a little 
straighter — Blondin, stoop a little more — go a little faster 
— lean a little more to the north — lean a little more to 
the south?' No. you would hold your breath as well as 
your tongue, and keep your hands off until he was safe 
over. The government is carrying an enormous Aveight. 
Untold treasures are in their hands. They are doing the 




STATUE OF LINCOLN, LINCOLN PARK, CHICAGO 



ILLINOIS IN THE WAR 225 

best they can. Don't badger them. Keep silence and we 
will get yon safe across." 

Lincoln's sad face seemed to grow sadder, and his 
long, thin body to grow thinner. Often he could neither 
eat nor sleep. Stanton once said to a friend: /'Many a 
time did Lincoln come in after midnight in an agony of 
anxiety occasioned by dispatches he had received. He 
would throw himself at full length on the sofa and cry 
out: 'Stanton, these things will kill me! I shall go 
mad ! I can 't stand it ! ' " 

Comforting Words From a Friend. Among those who 
visited the White House during those dark days was a 
company of ladies who found the President in deep gloom. 
His face looked as if it never smiled. But a little Quaker 
lady spoke words of comfort. "Friend Abraham," she 
said, ''thee need not think thee stands alone. We are 
praying for thee. The hearts of the people are behind 
thee, and thee cannot fail. Yea, as no man was ever 
loved before does this people love thee. Take comfort. 
Friend Abraham, God is with thee ; the people are be- 
hind thee." 

"I know it," said Lincoln, with trembling voice. "If 
I did not have the knowledge that God is sustaining 
and will sustain me until my appointed work is done, I 
could not live. If I did not believe that the hearts of all 
loyal people were with me, I could not endure it. My 
heart would have broken long ago. * * * Yo^^ have 
given a cup of cold water to a very thirsty and grateful 
man. I knew that good men and women were praying 
for me, but I was so tired I had almost forgotten. God 
bless you all." 

Popular With the Plain People. During these years 
of trial and worry, the plain people had come to under- 



226 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

stand and to love Lincoln. They had read and appre- 
ciated his stories and homely wit. His noble heart, ten- 
der sympathy and rugged honesty had won him hosts 
of friends everywhere. Politicians might criticise and 
scheme to put somebody else in his place, but the millions 
of common people demanded that ''Father Abraham," as 
they lovingly called him, was the only man to finish up 
that cruel war and save the Union. 

The end of his four-year term was approaching and 
the discontented were looking about for another candi- 
date. They asked Grant to run, but that hero replied, 
"No, my place is with the army. Lincoln should be re- 
elected." 

Re-elected. When the Republican Convention met at 
Baltimore, in June, 1864, Illinois again presented her 
noble son, Abraham Lincoln. A roll call of states was 
then taken. One state after another answered: "Solid 
for Lincoln," until all but one of the thirty states and 
territories had voted solidly for him. The Democrats 
ran General McClellan, but "Father Abraham" swept 
the country. 

Both North and South Mourn. Scarcely had Lincoln 
served a year of his second term, when the southern arm- 
ies were forced to surrender. The long and cruel war was 
over, the Union was saved, and the slaves were forever 
free. Amid the general rejoicing, the world was over- 
whelmed with sorrow to learn that the noble Lincoln had 
been struck down by the assassin's bullet. While his 
body was being carried to its final resting place on the 
prairies that he loved, the whole country was in mourning. 
The South, too, grieved because it felt that it had lost a 
powerful friend. 



ILLINOIS IN THE WAR 227 

Our Supreme Contribution. Every citizen of Illinois 
may take a just pride in the service of her sons in the 
Civil War. There was Douglas, who died praying for the 
Union; Richard Yates, our patriotic war Governor, who 
did everything in his power to uphold the cause of Lin- 
coln ; Logan, and a score of other officers, who faced Con- 
federate guns without flinching; and, the tens of thou- 
sands of men from Illinois, who displayed their bravery 
on many a battlefield; and, the world-famous General 
Grant, who led the Union armies to victory; and, above 
all, the immortal Lincoln, who gave his life to free the 
slaves and to preserve the Union. ''Greater love hath no 
man than this, that a man lay down his life for his 
friends." 



CHAPTER XXII 
LATER TIMES IN CHICAGO 

Chicago's First Railroad. The very year that the 
Illinois-Michigan Canal was completed (1848), the "iron 
horse" made its first appearance in Chicago. This lo- 
comotive steamed westward on the newly built railroad 
for Galena and the Mississippi river. 

Valuable lead mines, known for a hundred years to 
the Indians and French, had early attracted American 
miners and settlers to Galena, where a prosperous city 
grew up, with a splendid trade. Up to this time, the 
Galena commerce had all been carried to the East by 
water, by way of New Orleans. Her people now wished 
to trade with the giant young city on Lake Michigan, and 
through this port with the East. This brought about the 
Chicago and Galena Union Railroad, which is now a part 
of the Chicago & North Western system. 

Chicago's Wonderful Location. Four years later 
Chicago was connected by rail with the Atlantic sea- 
board, the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, and the 
i\Iichigan Central, both tapping Chicago trade in 1852. 
With this start, other railroads came rapidly, for it w^s 
easy to build across the level prairies. 



LATER TIMES IN CHICAGO 229 

The upper Mississippi region of Wisconsin, Minnesota, 
and the Dakotas began rapid settlement and growth, and 
railroads that would run into this boundless Northwest 
from the East must all pass around the southern end of 
Lake Michigan, through Chicago. Then, too, roads from 
the West and Southwest, reaching out for the Great 
Lakes, found Chicago to be the nearest port. When the 
time came to connect New York with San Francisco by 
rail, Chicago was again found to be in direct line. 

With these iron rails running out in all directions, 
Chicago was fast becoming a railroad center, besides 
being the center of canal and lake trafBc from north to 
south. Situated as she is in the heart of the continent, 
at the head of lake navigation, and in the midst of the 
finest grain and stock-raising section in the world, Chi- 
cago had, by 1870, developed into a great commercial 
center, a shipping point, the seat of a wholesale and re- 
tail distributing trade, of grain and live stock markets, 
of meat packing and tanning industries. The iron ore 
from Lake Superior, and the fuel from the Illinois coal 
fields, met here to build up important iron and steel works. 
There were at that time 300,000 people living in the city 
limits, covering thirty-six square miles. 

Chicago had raised herself out of the mud to a level 
from eight to fourteen feet higher, had built substantial 
waterworks, paved her streets, bridged the river in many 
places, and at others tunnelled beneath it. Chicago 
business men were facing the future with enthusiasm 
and bright prospecjts, when a dreadful calamity occurred. 

Swept by Fire. On Sunday night, October 8, 1871, 
the city of Chicago was swept by fire. A little before 
nine o'clock in the evening, flames were discovered in the 
barn belong to Patrick O'Leary, located southwest of the 



230 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

heart of the city. The season had been very dry, little 
rain having fallen for six weeks. That part of the city 
where the fire originated was built up chiefly of wooden 
buildings, and, besides the homes, contained some lum- 
ber mills and a match factory. There was a high wind 
blowing from the southwest. 

The Wind Carries Burning Shingles. Almost instant- 
ly the buildings surrounding the barn were in flames. 
In thirty minutes the fire had spread over the entire 
block and had overleapt the streets. The firemen worked 
heroically, but they were powerless. The flames were 
sweeping the earth and sky, and the wind, now blowing 
a gale, was carrying burning shingles far and wide. Fresh 
fires broke out in many places, as much as a mile distant 
from the scene. The progress of the conflagration was un- 
paralleled. In sixty seconds it traversed an entire block, 
and the frightened people fled before it for their lives, 
leaving to its fury all their property and goods. 

Waterworks Burn. Throughout the night the flre 
raged unchecked. The courthouse bell kept up its warn- 
ing to the people. A¥hen at last, this building, too, was 
surrendered to the flames, the janitor set the bell so that 
it continued its faithful clanging, until it fell at half -past 
two in the morning. The waterworks burned and, there- 
after, there was no water at hand with which to fight 
the flames, except along the lake front ; but there was no 
use flghting. The lake crib, although two miles from the 
burned district, would have been destroyed, except for the 
all-night fight of the keeper and his wife. 

The Business and Residence Districts in Ashes. Soon 
the fire, having laid low the entire business district, now 
known as the ''Loop," approached the main Chicago 
River, beyond which was the north side residence district. 



LATER TIMES IN CHICAGO 



231 



with its thousands of fine homes. The people had anx- 
iously hoped that the river would stop the fire, but the 
roaring flames leaped easily across, and all hope of saving 
this beautiful residence section was gone. 

From the following letter, written by Mrs. Mary 
Fales to her mother, we get a vivid picture of those 
awful days: 

''Chicago, October 10, 1871. 

Dear Mamma : You have probably heard of our fire, 
and Avill be glad to know that we are safe, after much 
tribulation. Sunday night a fire broke out on the west 




THE RIVER PROVED NO OBSTACLE 



side, about three miles southwest of us. The wind was 
very high, and David said it was a bad night for a fire. 
About two o'clock we were awakened by a very bright 
light, and a great noise of carts and wagons. * * * 



232 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

They thought the fire would stop when it came to 
the river, but this proved no obstacle, and the north side 
was soon on fire, and Wells and La Salle streets soon 
crowded with people going north. We saw that with 
such a wind it would soon reach our neighborhood, and 
David told me to pack what I most valued. It seemed 
useless to pack in trunks, as every vehicle demanded an 
enormous price, and was engaged. Several livery stables 
were already burned, and loose horses were plenty. One 
of the AVheeler boys had a horse given him for nothing 
except the promise to lead it to a safe place. * * * 
Having no wagon, it was of no use to him, and David 
took it, and after awhile, succeeded in finding a no-top 
buggy. We felt very lucky as no one around could get 
either horse or conveyance. David packed it full of 
things, set me and himself on top, and started to the 
Hutchinson's. 

I cannot convey to you how the streets looked. Ev- 
erybody was out of their houses without exception, and 
the sidewalks were covered with furniture and bundles 
of every description. The middle of the street was a jam 
of carts, carriages and wheelbarrows, and every sort of 
vehicle — many horses being led along, all excited and 
prancing, some running away. * * * j -yyas glad to 
go fast for the fire behind us raged, and the whole earth, 
or all we saw of it, was a lurid, yellowish red. David 
left me at Aunt Eng's and went for another load of 
things. This he soon brought back, and then went off 
again, and I saw him no more for seven hours. People 
came crowding to Aunt Eng's, and the house was full of 
strangers and their luggage. One young lady, who was 
to have had a fine wedding tomorrow, came dragging 
along some of her wedding presents. One lady came 




'CHICAGO IN ASHES" 



LATER TIMES IN CHICAGO 233 

* * * with six blankets full of clothing. Another 
came with nurse and baby, and, missing her little boy, 
went off to look for him. This was about daylight, and 
she did not come back at all. Now and then somebody's 
husband would come back for a moment, but there was 
Avork for everybody, and they only stayed long enough 
to say how far the fire had advanced and assure us of 
safety. At twelve, David came, and said he had taken 
everything out of our house and buried the piano and 
books, together with the china, in Mr. Hubbard's 
grounds. He saw persons taking off all the chairs, tables 
and light furniture without saying a word, for he knew 
they would burn, even in the street, and my nice pre- 
serves, which Maggie had set out on the piazza, he gave 
freely to anybody who cared to take them. 

The Hubbards thought they were safe in a brick 
house with so much ground around it, but wet their car- 
pets and hung them over the wooden facings for addi- 
tional safety. It was all to no purpose. David saw our 
home burn and fall, and theirs suffered the same fate. 
The McCogg's large house and stable burned in a few 
minutes, also the New England Church and Mr. Colly er's, 
In the afternoon the wind blew more furiously, the dust 
was blinding, the sky gray and leaden, and the atmos- 
phere dense with smoke. We watched the swarms of 
wagons and people pass. All the men and many of the 
women, were dragging trunks by cords tied to the 
handles, and children were carrying and dragging big 
bundles. Soon they said Aunt Eng's house must go too. 
Then such confusion as there was! Everybody trying 
to get a cart and none to be had at any price. After 
a while two of the gentlemen, who had wagons, carried 
their wives farther north, and those that were left 



234 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

watched for empty wagons, but nobody spoke a word. 
Mr. Hutchinson, David, and some others, were taking 
things out and burying them, and many of the ladies 
fairly lost their wits. Poor Aunt Eng even talked of 
sending home a shawl that somebody left there long ago. 
David started for a cart. Again he was successful, and 
got an old sand cart with no springs, one board out of 
the bottom, with a horse that had not been out of the 
harness for twenty-four hours. * * * The west side 
was safe, but to get there was the question. The bridges 
were blocked and some burned, but the man who owned 
the cart thought we could get there. * * * Many 
times we were blocked and it seemed as though the fire 
must reach the bridge before we did. But we were much 
too well off to complain. Some carts had broken down, 
horses had given out, and many people were walking and 
pulling big things, and seemed almost exhausted. Fur- 
niture and clothing lay all along the road. The fences 
were broken in all the unbuilt fields, and furniture and 
and people covered every yard of space. After a ride of 
two hours we reached Judge Porter's at dusk, and found 
a warm welcome. 

Every family I know on the north side is burned 
out. I can't enumerate them. It would be useless. * * * 
We were the only ones who took our things from Aunt 
Eng's. The lady with six bundles left five behind her. The 
lady with four servants * * * left the baby and nurse. 

I never felt so grateful in my life as when I heard the 
rain pour down at three o'clock this morning. That 
stopped the fire * * *. David says the piano burned 
under ground, nothing was left but the iron plates. The 
north side is level, as is the burned part of the south side, 
so that the streets are not distinguishable. They say 



LATER TIMES IN CHICAGO 235 

that people in every class of life are out of doors. The 
churches are full, and food is sent to them, but hardly 
anybody has an}' to spare. 

I will write again soon. * * * 

Lovingly and thankfully, 

MARY." 

How the Fire Started. Some one reported that Mrs. 
O'Leary, wdiose business was supplying milk to her 
neighbors, was milking a cow, wiien the unruly animal 
kicked over a lighted lamp, setting the straw and barn 
on fire. The story, though vigorously denied by both 
Patrick and Mrs. O'Leary, was sent by the newspapers 
broadcast over the world. People laughed at the story, 
and refused any other explanation of the origin of the 
fire, although Patrick and Catharine both testified in 
court, afterwards, that they had retired for the night 
long before the fire was discovered. Catharine said that 
she put aAvay the cows and the horse as usual, and closed 
up the barn before dark. She was verj^ angry at the 
newspapers for using her name in the story. Just how 
the fire started will, probably never be known. 

The Results of the Fire. The fire raged for three 
long days and nights, destroying the best residence sec- 
tion and the entire business district. The burned area 
was four miles long and two-thirds of a mile wide. 
Nearly sixteen thousand buildings and a hundred seven- 
ty-five manufacturing plants were in ashes. One-third 
of Chicago's population was homeless, and thousands 
penniless. The prices of food soared, though fast ex- 
press trains brought load after load to the stricken city, 
and millions of dollars were freely given to its relief. 

Real estate values shrank, and many sold to move 
away. Hundreds left the city, predicting that Chicago 



236 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

would never recover. Sad indeed, were the faces of the 
multitude, as they looked upon the ashes of their once 
beautiful homes and fine business blocks. Many, however, 
believed the ruins before them would yet become a great 
city. 

Nature Planned Chicago. Long before man appeared 
in the western wilderness, nature called in convention, 
the Spirit of the Prairies, the Spirit of the Lake, and the 
Spirit of the Forests, and they decided that on this spot 
there should some day arise a great city. The Spirit of 
the Prairies said that it would supply vast crops of grain 
and herds of live stock, to make the city a great market. 
The Spirit of the Forest promised the lumber, while the* 
Spirit of the Lakes said it would carry the immense trade 
to the ocean and the cities of the East and bring back 
from the northern lakes millions of tons of iron and cop- 
per ore, building stone and lumber, to make the future 
city a manufacturing center. The only other thing 
needed was an abundance of fuel. ''Good," said the 
Spirit of the Prairies. ''I have thousands of square 
miles of fine coal lands not far away. On the border of 
this lake, by this river, shall the city be built." 

Chicago Rebuilt. The conflagration had indeed 
checked for a brief time, the proud city's growth and 
prosperity, but her great advantages would build her up 
again more wonderful than before. Within a few years, 
not a scar was left. That which some had said would 
require twenty years was achieved in three. From the 
ashes arose finer homes and more imposing business 
blocks than, perhaps, would have existed for many years, 
but for the great fire. 

Chicago's misfortune advertised her the world over, 
and hither came workmen to find employment, and men 



LATER TIMES IN CIIK^AGO 237 

of all classes to share in her prosperity. So the metrop- 
olis of the West continued her marvelous growth. 

Chicago Again in Trouble. A big problem for all 
large cities is how to dispose of their sewage. Chicago 
had been draining all its sewers into the sluggish river, 
and as the population approached the half-million mark, 
the river Avater became so heavy Avith refuse from sewers 
that it failed to carry its load into the lake. The 
offensive odor became an unbearable nuisance and a dan- 
ger to public health. So in 1880, the city built a big plant 
to pump lake water through a tunnel into the river, in 
order to increase the volume and flow of water, and thus 
help to carry away the sewage. This brought relief for 
a time, but the population grew so rapidly, that before 
long the lake water was becoming contaminated from 
the river, and unfit for city use. 

Some other way of disposing of the sewage had to be 
found, because there was nowhere else for the city to get 
water except from the lake. Engineers were asked to solve 
the problem. They said the best solution was to dig a 
huge, deep drainage canal through the low divide to the 
Des Plaines river, and by this means to reverse the cur- 
rent in the Chicago river, making it flow south into the 
Des Plaines. This, they said, would carry all sewage by 
way of the Des Plaines into the Illinois river, and on, to 
the Mississippi. A good many people laughed at the idea 
of making a river run up hill, for so it seemed. 

Such a stupendous sewerage project had never before 
been undertaken by a great city, but Chicago likes big 
tasks, and seeing no other way out of her troubles, be- 
gan at once to collect the millions of money needed. 

The cities along the Illinois and Mississippi rivers ut- 
tered a vigorous protest. They claimed that the drainage 



238 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

from Chicago would pollute the waters of the Illinois and 
Mississippi, which were their only source of supply. To 
this the engineers replied, that by making the drainage 
canal large enough to carry an abundance of lake water 
the river would purify itself as it flowed along. 

Special laws had to be secured from the legislature, 
and a sanitary district organized, in order to levy the 
taxes necesary to complete this great project. 

Work was begun in 1892. The river was deepened by 
dredging for five miles, to Robey street on the south 
branch, where the canal proper begins. It was to be 
twenty-eight miles long, more than a hundred feet wide, 
and deep enough for large lake vessels, for it was to be 
used for navigation, also. For miles it was blasted through 
solid rock at a vast expense. At Lockport, the southern 
terminus, where the water is discharged into the Des 
Plaines, there was built a large basin, so that boats could 
turn around. After eight years, the work w^as completed, 
at a cost of thirty-three million dollars, and the water from 
Lake Michigan now flows into the Gulf of Mexico. This 
drainage canal is doing what its engineers said it would, 
and Chicago 's water supply is now excellent, and the city 
is noted for its low death rate. 

Evanston is just now, 1910, completing a canal from 
the lake to the north branch of the Chicago river, and 
in this way that city, too, will discharge its sewage 
through the drainage canal. 

The World's Columbian Exposition. As the year 1892 
approached, there arose all over the country the desire 
to celebrate the four hundredth anniversary of the dis- 
covery of America by Columbus, by holding somewhere a 
great exposition. Many cities sought the honor, and vied 
with each other in Congress to secure the exposition, but 




-sr 



LATER TIMES lx\ CHIC^AGO 239 

Chicago AV(Mi over tliein all. Jackson Park was chosen as 
the site, and here were laid out magnificent grounds cover- 
ing six hundred sixty-six acres. Under the excellent direc- 
tion of Daniel IT. Burnham, assisted by hundreds of the 
best artists and architects in the land, the wonderful 
"White City" was built. Nothing like it in beauty and 
grandeur had ever before been seen on the western conti- 
nent. 

Because of the extensive plans and mammoth build- 
ings, the exposition had to be postponed one j^ear. In the 
spring of 1898, it opened its gates with splendid promise. 
All through that summer and autumn, thousands of visit- 
ors from all parts of the world flocked hither, and none 
were disappointed. Almost every foreign country had its 
building, and a display of the wonders of its progress. The 
exposition proved a great means of collecting ideas from 
all over the world, and scattering them broadcast, to bene- 
fit the human race. 

Chicago enjoyed a boom in all lines, and the entire 
state w^as greatly benefited in many w^ays. The varied 
and beautiful architecture of the "White City" opened 
the eyes of the West. Our people had never dreamed 
how far behind the other countries of the world we were 
in architecture and art. We were used to big buildings, 
but we had no idea of the importance of makhig them 
beautiful. From that day, Chicago people have made 
great strides in beautifying their city, as is shown in her 
noble boulevards, magnificent parks, and beautiful edi- 
fices. 



CHAPTER XXIIl 
OUR HISTORIC OUTLOOK 

An Unrivaled Boundary. There is perhaps no other 
'^tate in the Union so favored in its boundaries as our 
own. The navigable Wabash river defines one hundred 
fifty miles of the southeastern limits of the state ; for a 
hundred miles across the southern border winds the 
beautiful Ohio, bearing steamboats and barges loaded 
with valuable merchandise; while the entire western 
boundary is formed by one of the most important rivers 
in the world, the Mississippi. These, together with the 
fifty miles of frontage on Lake Michigan, give us a water 
boundary unequaled for its commercial advantages. 

Navigable Waters Within the State. Besides, there 
are navigable rivers within the state, the Kaskaskia, the 
Rock, and the Illinois, the last being five hundred miles 
long, and navigable for small boats for two hundred fifty 
miles. The Illinois and the Rock are connected by the 
Hennepin canal, which was recently completed at a cost 
of eight million dollars. Water transportation will 
probably always be the cheapest, and, while slow, can be 
used for heavy and bulky articles such as coal, lumber 
and stone, whose transit need not be rapid. The high 
cost of the necessities of life is due partly to the excessive 
freight charges of the railroads, and this will force us, 




RAILROAD AND COUNTY MAP OF ILLINOIS 



OrU lllSTORU^ OUTLOOK 241 

sooner or later, to depend more npon the cheaper water 
transportation in Avhicli Illinois easily excels. 

Lakes-to-Gulf Waterway. Large steamers can now 
penetrate nearly forty miles toward the heart of the 
state, throngh the drainage canal; and many of our 
leading statesmen believe that either the state or the na- 
tional government ought to extend this deep water way to 
the IMississippi. The old Illinois-Michigan canal is much 
too shallow for the boats of today, and so is little used. 
It would certainly be a wonderful commercial advantage 
to be able to load vessels at Chicago, or other lake ports, 
and send them to foreign countries by way of a great 
ship canal and the IMississippi. It would save a long 
haul by rail and reloading at some seaport. Some day 
this Lakes-to-Gulf AVaterway will be realized, and when 
that day comes, Illinois will enjoy the advantages of 
a seaboard state. 

Underground Resources. There are no precious metals, 
such as gold and silver, found in Illinois, but this lack 
is overbalanced many times by the abundance of other 
mineral deposits. A large part of the state is underlaid 
with limestone, and there have been discovered recently, 
splendid oil fields in the southern part of the state. But 
by far the most important under-soil wealth we possess 
lies in our boundless coal fields, covering more than thirty 
thousand square miles, or nearly two thirds of the state. 
In many places the deposit consists of vein after vein, 
varying in thickness from one to nine feet. After Penn- 
sylvania, Illinois is the greatest coal-producing state in 
the nation, furnishing fuel for countless industries at 
home and abroad. 

As the years go by, this coal wealth will doubtless be 
mined much more extensively than at present. Illinois 



242 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

has been hitherto, chiefly a farming section, but factories 
are certain to multiply in all our cities because of the 
convenience and abundance of fuel. 

The Fertile Soil. With the exception of Louisiana and 
Delaware, ours is the most level state in the Union. 
There is very little waste land. The soil is a black loam 
of great fertility. For half a century, it has poured 
forth annually its hundred-fold of grain, even though 
sadly abused by the farmer. While Illinois possesses the 
richest soil in the world, it may yet be as poor as the 
worn-out hillsides of New England, unless those who 
till it, learn to conserve the elements of plant growth. 

There are three elements that are very necessary to 
plant production, and therefore to human food. They 
are nitrogen, potash and phosphorus, the last being, 
perhaps, the most important. Deprive the soil of any 
of these elements and it will cease to produce crops. 

We are told that the average of the different kinds 
of Illinois soils, for the upper seven inches of surface, 
contains 1,191 pounds of phosphorus per acre. But a 
seventy-five bushel crop of corn, for instance, will remove 
from an acre seventeen pounds of phosphorus. At that 
rate, the total supply of this element would be exhausted 
in seventy years, unless returned to the soil in some 
manner. 

The Prairies Abused. Our farmers have not always 
known the injury they were doing to the soil by raising 
on it the same crop every year, for a score of years. 
They have not known that different crops take from the 
land different elements, and that w^hat is taken out 
should be put back somehow; that it is best to rotate 
the crops and to turn the fields to different uses, so as 
to give the land a rest and a chance to gain back the 



OUR HISTORIC OUTLOOK 243 

elements taken out. Western farmers have burned up 
millions of tons of straw and cornstalks which contained 
large amounts of plant food, and which should have 
been scattered on the ground and allowed to decay, thus 
feeding their elements back to the soil. 

Some farmers have been guilty of plowing up and 
down the slope, and in this way assisting the water to 
form rills that during storms carry away the good top 
soil which alone contains plant food. It is said that 
the Mississippi carries into the Gulf every year enough 
good soil to support the entire population of Nevada 
if converted into farms. Much of this loss is due to the 
ignorance of those who sow and reap. 

bur Farmers Are Kings. Through the splendid work 
of the Department of Agriculture and its experiment 
stations, our farmers are learning how to secure great 
jdelds, and at the same time to keep their fields well 
supplied with plant food by fertilizing, and by rotating 
crops. The number of people who can live on our 
prairies is limited only by the human food obtainable 
from the earth. So, the future of the state lies almost 
wholly in the farmer's hands. How great it is to be 
depends upon how well he learns the lesson of conserving 
the richness of the soil. 

Illinios Excels in Railroads. In railroad mileage, Illi- 
nois has no equal, and to railroad building there seems 
to be no end. Interurban lines are spreading to the 
villages and farming communities. No other people is 
so blessed with transportation facilities as are those of 
our prairies. This leads to much travel and to the inter- 
change of ideas. From travel comes the best of education 
and culture, and our advantages in this respect must 
become evident each year. 



244 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

Illinois has no large cities except Chicago, whose 
population is now (1910), 2,185,283, but other cities have 
fine locations and excellent sites for manufactories, and 
these are certain to appear because of the coal supply 
and the cheap water transportation of the future. 

Ours A Mixed Race. The people of Illinois are a 
remarkable mixture of races and nationalities. The early 
settlers came from many states of our own country, and 
from many foreign lands. There were among them New 
Yorkers, Virginians and Yankees, and men from the 
various states of the South. From Germany, France and 
Holland, from the British Isles, from Norway and Sweden, 
came hosts of hardy settlers. Such a sifting of the 
peoples of the earth as is sprinkled over our prairies is 
hardly found anywhere else in the world. The mixing 
of these nationalities by intermarriage has produced our 
energetic men and women of today. 

As we look back over the history of the past, we 
notice that the mixed races — the Greeks, the Romans, 
the English, — have made the most notable advances in 
civilization. Our country is the most remarkable of all 
times in this respect, and the mixing process still con- 
tinues. No commonwealth can boast of a more noble or 
more varied ancestry than the Prairie State. 

The State's Chief Treasure. Marvelous as are the 
resources of Illinois in minerals, soil and rivers, our 
greatest wealth lies not there, but in the boys and girls 
who are to be the men and women of tomorrow. The 
state is levying heavy taxes in order that its future 
citizens may be well trained. To this end every property 
owner, whether he has children to educate or not, must 
bear his part of the cost of the schools. The poor man 
pays next to nothing, and yet his children share equally 








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— 1 



OUR HISTORIC OUTLOOK 245 

the benefits of the public schools with the children of the 
rich. Truly, ours is a land of liberty and enlightenment. 

A Work Yet to Do. While our schools are as good 
as those elsewhere, yet the country boys and girls are 
still at a disadvantage ; not because the farmer is un- 
willing to pay taxes, but because the country teacher 
has to instruct thirty or more classes a day, representing 
usually several grades of advancement. On the other 
hand, the city teacher has, ordinarily, not more than a 
dozen classes, and these all of one grade. Centralized 
rural schools must wait for good roads, the limestone 
for which nature has given us in abundance ; but it still 
lies beneath the surface. Surely, the young who read 
this book will do what they can to centralize the rural 
schools when they grow to be men and women, and they 
will try to make them as good as the efficient township 
high schools now found all over the state. 

Above the excellent graded schools and the high 
schools, are the normal schools, colleges, and the splendid 
State University at Urbana, of w^hich we all may be 
proud. So ample are the opportunities for an education 
that no boy or girl need to go into life handicapped by 
ignorance. 

Who Are True Citizens? But what our dear old Il- 
linois needs today, perhaps more than anything else, is 
more unselfishness among its citizens. Thousands of men 
and women, after receiving their education in the public 
schools, fail to show their love for the state and their 
interest in its welfare. They become so engrossed in 
their own private affairs that they will not give enough 
time to see that good men are elected to office. They 
allow dishonest and corrupt politicians to get control, 
and these bring the state of Douglas and Lincoln into 



216 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 

disgrace before the nation. Every citizen, deserving the 
name, should be interested in politics, and not only take 
enough time from business to vote upon every occasion, 
but, if he really loves his state, he should be present in 
political councils where candidates are agreed upon. 
Political machines we must have, for that is merely 
another name for organized work, but we can and must 
make these machines serve the best interests of the 
public. 

"Breathes there the man, with soul so dead, 
Who never to himself hath said, 
This is my own, my native land ! 
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd, 
As home his footsteps he hath turn'd 
From wandering on a foreign strand! 
If such there breathe, go, mark him well ; 
For him no Minstrel raptures swell; 
High though his titles, proud his name, 
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim 
Despite those titles, power, and pelf, 
The wretch, concentred all in self, 
Living, shall forfeit fair renown. 
And, doubly dying, shall go down 
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung, 
Unwept, unhonour'd and unsung." 



TOPICAL INDEX 



Abolitionists, 170-179 
Aigonquian Family, Tlie, Id 
Alleghany Mts., '34, 72, 97 
Alton, Treaty at, 121 

Observer, 174, 183 
Anderson, Major, 220, 221 
Anti-Slavery Society, 175, 180 
Arkansas Kiver, 31 

Nation, 32 
Armstrong, Fort, 133 
Atkinson, General, 132 

Black Hawk, 99, 121, 129, 134, 141 

War, 129-133 
Black Laws, 157, 160, 1G4, 1G9 
Black Partridge, 119, 120 
Bond, Shadrick, 114 
Boone County, 111 
Bowman, Capt., 93 
Breckenridge, J. C, 200 
Breese, Sidney, 152 
British, 96, 97, 105 
Buchanan, James. 187, 188 
Buffalo hunt, 17, 96 
Buffalo Rock, 51 
Butler, Jackson, 166, 167 

Cabot, John, 75 

Cairo, 207, 208 

Cahokia, 86 

California, Gulf of, 27, 33, 39 

Cameron, 198 

Canada, 34, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42, 55, 56, 

61, 63, 66 
Canal, 136, 137, 149 
Erie, 137, 142 
Hennepin, 240 
Canalport, 125 
Castle Rock, 132 
Catholic, 23 

Chartres, Fort, 71, 72, 76 
Chase, 198, 199 
Cheesman, Jesse, 137, 138 
Chicago, 49, 59, 111, 112, 122, 123, 

124, 143, 145, 147, 183 



Chicago 

Later times in, 228-239 

First railroad to, 228 

Location of, 228, 236 

Fire, 229-236 

Rebuilt, 236 

Sewerage project, 237 

River, 34, 35, 116, 23 7 

Republican Convention, 198 
Clark, George R., 78-84 

Plans of, 79 

Changes plans, 82 
Coles, Edward, 160, 161 
Columbian Exposition, 238, 239 
Columbus, 23 

Constitutional Convention, 158 
Cook, Daniel P., 123, 149, 160 

County of, 123 
Corn Island, 82 
Cotton gin, 170 
Cumberland Road, 97, 136, 148 

Davis, Jefferson, 133, 186 
Dearborn, Fort, 116, 117, 118, 122, 

131 
Des Plaines river, 34, 35, 237 
Detroit, River, 47 

Fort, 78, 99, 117, 143 
Douglas, Stephen A., 143, 152, 185, 
200 

Debates of, 185-193, 194, 223 

Reelected, 193 

In the war, 203-207 

Following of, 203, 204 

Loyalty of, 204 

Last speech of, 206 
Drainage Canal, 237 
"Drowned Lands," 102 

Edwards, Ninian, 157 
Elgin, 111 
England, 75 
English, 66 
Erie, Lake, 43, 47 
Canal, 142 



248 



THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 



Fell, Jesse W., 194 
Fox river, 26 
France, 23, 42, 64, 68, 75 
Freeport, 111 

French, The, 23, 57, 92-98 
Frontenac, Gov., 25, 30, 34, 39, 40, 
41, 42, 66, 68, 
Fort, 41, 43, 45, 47, 56, 60, 63 

Gage, Fort, 82 

Galena, 111, 144, 149, 214, 228 
Galesburg, 183 

Garrison, William Lloyd, 171, 172 
Gibault, Father, 88 
Grant, Ulysses S., 209, 210, 214-219, 
226 

In Mexican War, 214 

Applies to Yates, 215 

Appointment of, 217 

At Chattanooga, 218 

Lieut. Gen., 218 
Great Debates, 185-193, 194 

Lakes, 24, 65, 126, 143 
Green Bay, 34, 47, 48, 49, 59 
Griffon, The, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 60 

"Hair Buyer," General, 78 
Hamilton, Gov., 78, 79, 88, 89 
Hansen, 161 
Harrison, Gen., 167 
Heald, Capt., 118, 119 
Helm, Capt., 83, 88, 89 

Mrs., 120 
Hennepin, Father, 38, 43, 44, 45, 46, 
50, 52 

Canal, 241 
Henry, Patrick, 91 

Fort, 105 
Hood, John, 183 
Hull. Gen., 118 
Hunter, Pioneer, 95 
Huron, Lake, 47 



Illinois 

Position of, 207 

In the war, 203-227 

Resources of, 241, 242, 244 

Railroads, 243 

Cities of, 244 

People of, 244, 245 

Schools of, 245 
Illinois Central Railroad, 152, 153, 

207 
Illinois-Michigan Canal, 122, 149, 151, 

241 
Immigration, 79, 134, 139, 142, 143, 

144 
Indentured servants, 156, 158 
Indians 

of Illinois, Chap. I, p. 24, 57, 58, 59 

Name and origin, 9 

Iroquois, 10, 37, 53, 57 

Work of the squaw, 10-12 

Work of the brave, 12-14 

Training of children, 14 

How to become a brave, 15 

Customs, 15 

Arithmetic, 15 

Writing, 16 

Buffalo-hunt, 17, 18 

Cooking and tanning, 19 

Tribe on the war-path, 20 

Superstitions and religions, 21 

And the white man, 22 

Eight tribes of Illinois, 10 

Hurons and Ottawas, 25 

Wild Rice, 25 

Mascoutins or Fire-Nation, 26,27 

Gods described, 31 

Algonquins, 37 

Senecas, 44-46 

Mohegans, 46 

Osages, 54, 56 

Sacs and Foxes, treaty, 129 
Indiana, 108 



Illinois, River, 34, 52, 62, 78 
Country, 95 
Settlement, 96 
Territory of, 108 
Boundary, 108-110, 240 
Statehood, 122, 158 
Bankrupt, 151 
Constitution of, 159 



Jackson, Andrew, 133 
Jefferson, Thos., 106, 107, 170 
Jesuits, The, 23, 24, 36, 37, 42 
Joe Daviess Guards, 215 
Joliet, 23, 24, 25, 121 

Kankakee river, 50, 61 
Portage to, 51 



TOPICAL INDEX 



>4y 



Kansas-Nebraska Bill, 185, 186 

In civil war, 187 
Kaskaskia, 34. 70, 71, 72, 78, 82-85, 
90, 101-121, 154, 158 

River, 70, 71 

First Capital, 113 
Kentucky, 78, 80, 89 
Kidnapping, 165, 166 
Kingston, 40 
Kinzie, John, 118-121 

La Barre, 68 
La Chine, 38, 39 
La Motte, 43, 44, 45 
La Salle, 37-68 

Becomes a Jesuit, 37 
At Montreal, 3 7 
On the Ohio, 39 
Plans of, 40 
Enemies of, 42 
Builds the Griffon, 36 
Followers disloyal, 55 
First view of the Mississippi, 63 
Victory at last, 64 
His death, 68 
Lee, Robert E., 218 
Leeper, H. B., 1S4 
Liberator, The, 171 
Lincoln, Abraham, 99, 133, 157 
On Slavery, 189 
Challenges Douglas, 189 
Great debates of, 189-193 
Nomination and election of, 104- 

202 
Autobiography, 195 
Before Decatur Convention, 196 
Before Chicago Convention, 196, 

197, 198 
Farewell at Springfield, 201 
In the White House, 219-227 
His Cabinet, 222 
Death of, 226 
Lockport, 238 
Logan, John A., 211-214 
A Douglas Democrat, 211 
On Slavery, 212 
Loyalty of, 213 
Long, Major, 122 
"Long Knives," 84, 85, 86, 94 
Louis XIV, 41, 42, 43. 64 
Louisiana Purchase, 185 



Louisville, 92 

Lovejoy, Elijaii, 170-179 

Early life of, 172 

On Slavery, 173 

At St. Louis, 173 

At Alton, 174 

Monimient of, 176 
Lovejoy, Owen, 212 

Mackinac, 24, 25, 35, 47, 50, 59, 63, 66 

Madison, James, 170 

Marietta, 112 

Marquette, Father, 23, 24, 25-36 

Maryland, 78 

Maumee river, 88, 143 

McClellan, Gen. Geo. B.. 216. 223, 226 

Menominee river, 25 

Mexico, Gulf of, 24, 27, 32, 39, 64, 68, 

70 
Miami, Fort, 50 
Michigan, Lake, 25, 34, 35, 49 
Miltimore, Alderman, 127 
Mississippi river, 24, 27-34, 63, 64, 

78, 93, 147 
Missouri river, 31, 71 

Compromise, 185 
Monroe, James, 106, 108, 112 
Monso, Chief, 54, 55 
Montreal, 37, 60, 61 

National Road, 104 

New Orleans, 71, 72, 74, 76, 88, 105, 

135, 136 
Niagara river, 39, 44, 45, 46 
North Carolina, 80 
Northwest Territory, 106, 108, 109, 

155 

Ohio river, 31, 39, 97, 98 
Ontario, Lake, 39, 40, 46, 61 
Ordinance of 1787, 108, 155 
Oregon, 111 
Ottawa. 151, 191 

Peacepipe, 29, 32 
Peoria lake, 52 
Philadelphia, 136 
Phillips, Wendell, 178 
Pioneer Hunter, The, 102, 144 
Woodland, The, 96 



250 



THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 



Pioneer, The 

Clothing, Books, etc., 103 

Prairie, 144 
Pitt, Fort, 75 
Pittsburg, 97, 136 
Plank Roads, 127 
Pope, Nathaniel, 108, 112 
Popular Sovereignty, 192 
Portage Railroad, 137 
Potomac river, 80 

Quakers, 182 

Quebec, 23, 34, 39, 47, 68 

Renault, Philip, 154 
Reynolds, Governor, 130, 131 
Richmond, 218 
Rock river, 71, 129 
Rockford, 111 
Rosecrans, General, 218 

Sacs, 129 

San Domingo, 154 

Saukenuk, 129 

Sault Ste Marie, 44 

Scott, General, 131 

Schoolcraft, 122 

Seward, William H., 198, 199, 220, 

221 
Shawneetown, 97, 98 
Sherman, General W. T., 218 
Shiloh, 209, 210 
Sioux, 131 
Slave, Auction, 165 

Merchant, 166 

Mart, 166 

Territory, 156 

Set free, 169 

States secede, 201 
Slavery, In Illinois, 154-179 

Under England, 155 

At Kaskaskia, 156 

Indentured, 156 

Fight on, 161 

Decline of, 164-179 
Spanish, 66, 97 
Springfield, 153 
Stanton, Edward M., 222 



Starved Rock, 35, 56, 57, 66, 67, 70, 

71 
Stephenson County, 111, 140 
Steamboats, 138, 139, 141, 142 
Sterling, Capt., 75 
St. Clair, Lake, 47 

Governor, 112, 167, 168 

Laws of, 113 

On slavery in Illinois, 155-156 
St. Ignace, 25, 36 
St. Louis, 31, 99 

Fort, 62, 67, 68, 70 
Sumter, Fort, 204, 220, 221 
Swift, General, 209 

Tecumseh, Chief, 118 
Tennessee, 78, 80 
Texas, 68, 69 
Tonty, 43-50 
Tremont House, 207 
Turnpike, The National, 80 

Undergroimd Railway, 180-184 
Utica, 52 

Vincennes, 78, 88, 94 
Virginia, Sea of, 33 

State of, 78, 91, 96, 105, 106, 156 

Claims to Illinois, 155 

Wabash Country, 91 

River, 92 
Walk-in-the-water, 141, 143 
Washington, George, 108, 112, 170 
Waukegan, 111 
Waj-ne, Fort, 118 
Wheelmg, 136 
Whitney, Eli, 170 
Wigwam, The, 198 
Williamsburg, 91 
Winnebago, Lake, 26 

Indians, 131 
Wisconsin, River, 27, 71 

Territory, 108 

Claims of, 111 
Woodland Pioneer, 96 

Yankees, 142, 144-149, 168 
Yates, Richard, 207-210, 215, 217 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



